ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

EU Agriculture and Fisheries Council

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which Ministers have represented the United Kingdom at the Agriculture and Fisheries configuration of the Council of the European Union since May 2010; and to how many such meetings Ministers from the UK have submitted apologies in that period.

Richard Benyon: The Ministers who represented the UK at the Agriculture and Fisheries Council between May 2010 and January 2013 are shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Minister 
			 2010  
			 May The Secretary of State (Caroline Spelman) 
			 June The Minister of State and Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Jim Paice and Richard Benyon) 
			 July The Minister of State (Jim Paice) 
			 September The Minister of State (Jim Paice) 
			 October The Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Richard Benyon) 
			 November The Minister of State and Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Jim Paice and Richard Benyon) 
			 December The Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Richard Benyon) 
			   
			 2011  
			 January The Minister of State (Jim Paice) 
			 February The Secretary of State (Caroline Spelman) 
			 March The Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Lord Henley) 
			 April The Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Richard Benyon) 
			 May The Minister of State and Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Jim Paice and Richard Benyon) 
			 June The Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Richard Benyon) 
			 July The Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Richard Benyon) 
			 September The Minister of State (Jim Paice) 
			 October The Secretary of State (Caroline Spelman) and the Minister of State and Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Jim Paice and Richard Benyon) 
			 November The Secretary of State (Caroline Spelman) and the Minister of State and Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Jim Paice and Richard Benyon) 
			 December The Secretary of State (Caroline Spelman) and Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Richard Benyon) 
			   
			 2012  
			 January The Minister of State (Jim Paice) 
			 February Agriculture and Fisheries Council was cancelled by the Danish presidency 
			 March The Minister of State and Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Jim Paice and Richard Benyon) 
			 April The Minister of State and Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Jim Paice and Richard Benyon) 
		
	
	
		
			 May The Minister of State and Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Jim Paice and Richard Benyon) 
			 June The Minister of State (Jim Paice) 
			 July The Minister of State (Jim Paice) 
			 September The Secretary of State (Owen Paterson) and Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Richard Benyon) 
			 October The Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Richard Benyon) 
			 November The Secretary of State (Owen Paterson) and the Minister of State and Parliamentary Under-Secretary (David Heath and Richard Benyon) 
			 December The Secretary of State (Owen Paterson) and Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Richard Benyon) 
			   
			 2013  
			 January The Secretary of State (Owen Paterson) and Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Richard Benyon) 
		
	
	As all meetings have been attended by Ministers, no apologies have been submitted.

Forestry Commission

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what proportion of staff of the Forestry Commission (a) perform administrative or other support roles and (b) maintain and monitor natural preserve sites;
	(2)  what the average number of people employed is at each nature preserve site monitored by the Forestry Commission.

David Heath: Natural preserve or nature preserve is not a recognised designation for any countryside area. The Forestry Commission does not classify its staff into administrative or support roles as many of them carry out a wide range of duties, which may include some administrative tasks. The public forest estate is managed as a series of districts and staff are not usually employed on a single site.

Forestry Commission

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  how many staff the Forestry Commission employs;
	(2)  how many staff the Forestry Commission employs to carry out back-office or administrative tasks.

David Heath: At the end of January the Forestry Commission, as a cross-border non-ministerial department for England, Scotland and Wales, employed 2,909 people in both full and part-time positions.
	Forestry is a devolved matter and in England the Forestry Commission does not designate or classify its staff as back office, administrative or by any other similar classification. With the range of tasks being carried out by many of its staff such an assessment could only be made at disproportionate cost.

Horse Meat

David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of whether (a) tinned meat and (b) sausages are not contaminated with horsemeat.

Anna Soubry: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Department of Health.
	The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has required industry to test meat products for horse DNA and to report the results to the FSA. The results reported to date cover 3,644 tests, including 202 on non-beef meat products. The results include tinned meat products and sausages, and the raw materials and ingredients used in these products.
	Of all product tested, the overwhelming majority, 3,599 (over 99%), of tests showed no horse DNA present at or above the level of 1%. 35 results, representing 13 products, indicated the presence of horse DNA. at or above the 1% threshold. These products have already been named and withdrawn from sale. None of these withdrawn products were sausages or tinned meat products.
	The FSA is conducting a United Kingdom-wide meat authenticity sampling survey with local authorities taking official control samples for horse DNA testing across a range of comminuted and minced meat products. Phase 1 of the survey includes testing of beef sausages, and Phase 2 includes sampling of canned ready meals (labelled as containing beef). It is planned to publish results from this survey from week commencing 4 March 2013. Sampling has also started on a further phase as part of a sampling programme being undertaken by European Union member states for horse DNA in products marketed as containing beef. This will also include tinned meat products and sausages.

Horses: Databases

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which databases are used by his Department to track horses in the UK; how many duplicate records for horses have been identified by each such database; what action has been taken to resolve any duplicate records; and what access trading standards departments have to equine databases to check data for their investigations of abattoirs.

David Heath: Horse passports are issued by 75 approved passport issuing organisations (PIOs) in the UK, all of which are required, as part of their approval, to maintain accurate records of the passports they have issued. PIOs are required to verify that no passport has already been issued and to prevent the fraudulent issuing of multiple passports for the same animal, at least by consulting the paper and electronic records available to them. Where owners apply for a duplicate or replacement passport, or a first application for an animal older than 12 months, these are issued to exclude the animal from slaughter from human consumption.
	Data held in PIOs' databases are available for the investigation of criminal offences and for other lawful purposes. Local authorities that require access to personal information may apply through DEFRA, which acts as the data controller for this information.

Meat: Contamination

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether he has discussed with his Irish counterpart potential prosecutions in connection with the adulteration of meat products.

David Heath: The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the right hon. Member for North Shropshire (Mr Paterson), has had several discussions with Minister Coveney of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Ireland. The police in both the UK and Ireland have been involved in the ongoing investigations of meat products.

LEADER OF THE HOUSE

Parliamentary Procedure

David Winnick: To ask the Leader of the House if he will recommend to the Procedure Committee that it should take steps to discontinue the practice of doorkeepers calling out Who Goes Home after the rise of the House each day.

Andrew Lansley: This would be a matter for the House to determine; if the hon. Member writes to the Procedure Committee to consider it, he should write to the Chairman, my hon. Friend the Member for Broxbourne (Mr Walker).

TREASURY

Air Passenger Duty

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of the cost of re-banding Caribbean countries into the same band of air passenger duty as south Florida destinations in the US;
	(2)  for what reasons Russia has been split into two for the purposes of charging air passenger duty, but not the US;
	(3)  what estimate his Department has made of the required level of air passenger duty in each band under a two band system, assuming revenue neutrality for the consultation on reform of air passenger duty in 2011.

Sajid Javid: Air passenger duty (APD) is intended to be as simple as possible to administer. For this reason the distance-based banding within it generally reflects international aviation codes used by the airline industry. These codes are based on national territories, and as such it is straightforward to base APD on countries, using capital cities as a proxy. In the case of Russia, codes do distinguish between the Eastern and Western halves of the country, and the tax has therefore been designed to incorporate this.
	Changes to the banding structure of APD were considered as part of the consultation launched at Budget 2011. Estimates of the required level of APD rates to deliver a broadly revenue neutral move to a two band system can be found in the 2011 consultation document, which is available online here:
	http://cdn.hm-treasury.gov.uk/2011budget_airpassenger.pdf
	No estimate of the cost of re-banding Caribbean countries into the same band of APD as south Florida destinations in the US is available.

Apprentices: Scotland

Gregg McClymont: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the amount allocated to Scotland as a result of the apprenticeship programme in each financial year since the scheme began.

Danny Alexander: The Scottish Government will have received Barnett consequentials from the allocations made to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills at spending review 2010.
	Enterprise and training is a devolved matter and therefore it would be for the Scottish Government to allocate funding according to local priorities and needs based on its Spending Review 2010 allocation.
	In addition, as part of Budget 2011, the Government allocated £17.7 million over the years 2011-12 to 2014-15 to the Scottish Government as a result of decisions taken on apprenticeships in England.

Banks: Iceland

Therese Coffey: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the judgement by the Court of the European Free Trade Authority concerning Icelandic banks; and if he will make a statement.

Greg Clark: On 28 January the EFTA Surveillance Authority lost its case against Iceland for breach of its obligations under the EU deposit compensation arrangements.
	The ruling is disappointing. The EFTA Surveillance Authority bought the case because it, and the European Commission, believed that Iceland should have taken steps to provide the minimum compensation.
	The ruling itself should have no impact on our public spending plans. The Landsbanki Winding-up board is now projecting recoveries of 100% of claims in respect of retail depositors. Therefore compensation paid by the Government in 2008 should be repaid and have no negative impact in the public accounts.

BioIndustry Association

Julian Huppert: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the Citizens' Innovation Funds investment product called for by the UK BioIndustry Association.

David Gauke: Ongoing discussions are taking place between officials and the BioIndustry Association to gain a more detailed understanding of their proposal for Citizens’ Innovation Funds.

Broadband

Alun Cairns: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent discussions (a) he and (b) officials from his Department have had with Ofcom on revising the annual licence fees for 900MHz and 1800MHz spectrum.

Danny Alexander: As the independent communications regulator, it is for Ofcom to determine the level of fees payable for commercial spectrum users. Ofcom has been directed to revise the annual licence fees for the 900MHz and 1800MHz bands so that they reflect the full market value of the frequencies in those bands, having particular regard to the sums bid for the 800MHz and 2.6 GHz spectrum in the current auction. (See The Wireless Telegraphy Act 2006 (Directions to OFCOM) Order 2010, SI 2010/3024).

Business: Government Assistance

James Duddridge: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps his Department is taking to improve access to non-bank finance routes.

Greg Clark: The £1.2 billion Business Finance Partnership aims to diversify the sources of finance available to smaller and mid-sized firms and reduce their dependence on bank finance. Successful proposals from the first tranche of investment were announced at autumn statement 2012. These five funds are now open for business. More details can be found at
	http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/bfp.htm

Radio Frequencies

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much interest he expects to earn from holding deposits for the 4G spectrum auction; and if he will make a statement.

Danny Alexander: No estimate has been made of the likely level of interest accrued from 4G spectrum auction holding deposits, which are yet to be received by the Exchequer. The independent communications regulator, Ofcom, set the initial deposit at £100,000 per bidder and determined the level of further deposits required at subsequent auction stages.

Retail Bonds

James Duddridge: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what steps the Government is taking to improve access to retail bonds;
	(2)  what steps the Government is taking to enable savers to invest in bonds;
	(3)  what steps the Government is taking to increase access to retail bonds for individual savers.

Greg Clark: Retail bonds have seen substantial growth in the past three years, following the launch of the London Stock Exchange's order book for retail bonds. This growth has been largely organic, and driven by market forces matching demand with supply. The Government supports retail bonds as a market offering, and permits bonds, including retail bonds, to be held in stocks and shares ISAs subject to ISA regulations.

Revenue and Customs

John Robertson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps HM Revenue and Customs is taking to act on information provided through its e-mail customs fraud hotline referred to in its leaflet, Use of Labour Providers: Advice on due diligence.

David Gauke: HM Revenue and Customs has a number of routes available to the public to report suspected tax evasion, such as the Tax Evasion and Customs telephone hotlines, online and freepost addresses. The public can also write directly to their local office or provide information in person at any of its inquiry centres.

Roads: Devon

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the effect on the South Devon economy of the construction of the South Devon Link Road; and whether the Government plans to provide assistance to local authorities and the Local Enterprise Partnership to ensure that maximum economic benefit from the link road is procured.

Danny Alexander: The construction of the South Devon Link Road seeks to address the problem of congestion on the A380 through Kingskerswell, on the main route into Torbay from Exeter. The adverse impacts of this congestion include (1) stifling of the economy of Torbay, (2) environmental detriment to the village of Kingskerswell and (3) poor reliability of public transport. The section of the road in question is the only non-dualled section on the A380 until it reaches Torquay.
	The economic benefits are expected to be £5.40 per £1 of public money spent comprising: time savings (79%), vehicle operating cost savings (5%) and reliability benefits (16%). The scheme is likely to have a positive impact on employment in the Torbay Regeneration Area, particularly in the tourism industry.
	The Government continues to provide support to local authorities for transport projects by way of grants, including the Integrated Transport Block and LA Majors. IUK also supports the delivery of major infrastructure projects where there is capital investment from the public sector.

Tax Allowances

John Robertson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what specific instructions HM Revenue and Customs' Large Business Service and Local Compliance (Large and Complex) directorates have been issued with to identify companies in the employment industry operating travel and expenses schemes; and if he will place a copy of such guidance or procedures in the Library.

David Gauke: No specific instructions have been issued within HM Revenue and Customs' Large Business Service and Local Compliance (Large and Complex) directorates to identify employment industry businesses with travel and expenses schemes. There is existing guidance to assist case teams to-identify risks around agency workers that relates mainly to status and dispensations and touches on the travel and subsistence rules for temporary workers.

Tax Allowances

John Robertson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many investigations HM Revenue and Customs undertook of companies in the employment industry claiming substantial tax relief due to travel and subsistence expenses in 2012; and how many times that tax relief was disallowed.

David Gauke: The data required to assist in answering this question are held across multiple HMRC systems and can be assembled only at disproportionate cost.

Tax Avoidance

John Robertson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether any employment business or umbrella company cases involving travel and subsistence schemes are waiting to be heard before tax tribunals.

David Gauke: There is one case involving travel and subsistence schemes currently waiting to be heard before the upper tax tribunal.

Tax Avoidance

Stephen Timms: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  whether the UK presidency of the G8 will bring forward proposals to require G8 companies to disclose in their home country their tax avoidance schemes in developing countries;
	(2)  whether he intends to introduce legislative proposals to require British companies to disclose in the UK their tax avoidance schemes in developing countries.

David Gauke: The Disclosure of Tax Avoidance Schemes (DOTAS) Regime is the main way that avoidance schemes are notified to HMRC. The requirement to disclose is restricted to arrangements defined in UK tax legislation. It can apply to arrangements affecting UK tax from activities carried on outside the UK provided the arrangement is captured by the DOTAS Hallmarks (the descriptions of scheme requiring disclosure); but there are no plans for the regime to be applied to other countries' taxes. HMRC has held discussions with a number of countries who are looking to introduce their own disclosure rules to share our experiences of DOTAS.

Taxation

John Robertson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  pursuant to the answer of 22 January 2013, Official Report, column 146W, on taxation, for what reasons the requested information is not held centrally;
	(2)  what figures regarding the under and overpayment of tax are held centrally;
	(3)  what steps he is taking to aid those individuals who have underpaid tax and are subsequently asked to make further payments after the end of the financial year.

David Gauke: Under or overpayments of income tax may arise for a variety of reasons and are usually calculated after the end of the tax year through Pay as You Earn (PAYE) or Self Assessment (SA). Information relating to the calculation, collection and payment of income tax liability is held on multiple IT systems across HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). The detailed analysis require to extract and analyse this data could be achieved only at a disproportional cost.
	Where possible, underpayments of income tax are collected by making an adjustment in the taxpayer's PAYE tax code for a later year. Anyone experiencing difficulty paying their income tax should contact HMRC immediately. Further information is available on the HMRC website.

Taxation

John Robertson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 22 January 2013, Official Report, column 146W, on taxation, 
	(1)  what recent discussions he has had with HM Revenue and Customs regarding the under and over payment of tax;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the accuracy of HM Revenue and Customs initial taxation decisions; and if he will make a statement.

David Gauke: Ministers regularly meet HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) officials and discuss a wide variety of tax issues.
	The accuracy of tax decisions is a matter for HMRC. Where taxpayers disagree with HMRC's decisions they may appeal or seek a review of that decision.

Taxation: Developing Countries

Stephen Timms: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he plans to take to increase tax information exchange between the UK and developing countries; and if he will make a statement.

David Gauke: The Government are fully committed to promoting tax transparency and exchange of information including taking actions to ensure developing countries benefit from this.
	We are already working through HMRC and DFID to build capacity in tax administrations in developing countries and through the Global Forum on Tax Transparency and Exchange of Information. In June 2012, as a result of UK support, Ghana successfully joined the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters. We will continue to offer this assistance where appropriate.
	The Prime Minister has also stated that the UK's G8 Presidency will focus on strengthening the tax transparency agenda and working with developing countries to enable them to collect the tax that is due to them.

Temporary Employment: Tax Avoidance

John Robertson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Worthing West of 17 December 2012, Official Report, column 567W on temporary employment: tax avoidance, how many such dispensations HM Revenue and Customs issued in 2012; how many instances of dispensations the specialist team reviewed in the same period; and how many dispensations were revoked as a result of those reviews.

David Gauke: HMRC issued 265 new dispensations in 2012. The specialist team reviewed 2,163 dispensations and dispensation applications; of these, 1,861 were refused or revoked.

Trade: British Overseas Territories

Karl McCartney: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer with reference to recent studies conducted by the Financial Action Taskforce, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the Financial Stability Board and the International Monetary Fund, what the Government's assessment is of the Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies' compliance with international regulatory standards.

Greg Clark: Many of the UK Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories including all of those with significant financial centres; Jersey, Guernsey, Gibraltar, the Isle of Man, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Anguilla, Bermuda and Montserrat; have achieved a satisfactory level of compliance with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) International standards for combating Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing.
	The Financial Stability Board, based on IMF and World Bank analysis, regularly publishes updates on global adherence to regulatory and supervisory standards on international cooperation and information exchange. The Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies included in the updates were all deemed to have demonstrated sufficiently strong adherence. As shown during the Global Forum's Peer Review process, the Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories have been found to meet the international standard on tax transparency.

VAT

John Pugh: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  whether it is the Government's policy to offer any exemption from VAT where a private firm offers a service funded from the public purse which could be provided by a public sector body;
	(2)  whether it is Government policy to exempt private firms from VAT where they are the successful bidders for work funded by the public purse which could have been bid for by a public sector body.

David Gauke: There is no specific exemption from VAT for private firms offering a service funded from the public purse which could be provided by a public sector body. Supplies by private firms may be relieved from VAT where the normal VAT rules permit.

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Building Alterations: Planning Permission

Dominic Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when the Government intends to publish its response to the consultation on extending permitted development rights for homeowners and businesses which closed in December 2012.

Nicholas Boles: We are considering the responses to the technical consultation on extending permitted development rights for homeowners and businesses before confirming the changes we will make. We will also publish a summary of the consultation responses.

Fracking

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether it is possible for a local development plan to impose a ban on installation of fracking rigs.

Nicholas Boles: The planning process should not impose arbitrary blanket bans, rather it should broadly shape where development should and should not go within a local authority area, and determine what types of land, heritage and environment deserve particular protection. Planning applications should then be considered in accordance with the development plan, unless material considerations indicate otherwise.
	Guidance on the sustainable use of minerals is outlined in section 13 in the National Planning Policy Framework.

Housing Benefit

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the Local Housing Allowance rates for one bedroom properties are in each Broad Rental Market Area; and what the average rates are for such properties in each local authority.

Steve Webb: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions.
	Local Housing Allowance Rates are published by the rent officer and tables showing the current and future, rates can be found at:
	http://www.voa.gov.uk/corporate/RentOfficers/lharates/april2013lha.html
	http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Built-Environment/Housing/privaterent/tenants/money/localhousingallowance/Figures-1/2013
	http://wales.gov.uk/topics/housingandcommunity/housing/private/renting/rentofficers/publication/lha13/?lang=en
	Information on average rates in each local authority is not available.

Housing: Older People

Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether his Department has plans to update the Town and Country (Use Classes) Order 1987; and what assessment he has made of whether the current system caters adequately for new forms of housing for older people.

Nicholas Boles: Housing for older people can be provided in a variety of forms, which can already be classified within the broad framework set out in the Use Classes Order. The National Planning Policy Framework states that local authorities should plan for a mix of housing based on current and future demographic trends.
	I refer the hon. Member to the written ministerial statement made on 24 January 2013, Official Report, columns 16-18WS, which outlines several new permitted development rights allowing for changes of use without the need for a planning application. These changes will be implemented via the General Permitted Development Order 1995. The statement also indicates that we will continue to keep the operation of use classes under review.

Mayors

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 29 January 2013, Official Report, column 696W, on local government: conditions of employment, whether elected mayors are employees.

Brandon Lewis: I refer the right hon. Member to my answer of 10 January 2013, Official Report, column 406W, neither councillors nor elected mayors are employees, rather they hold elected office.

Social Rented Housing

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of the number of single bedroom units of accommodation in each local authority area in England under the control of (a) local authorities and (b) registered social landlords which are (i) in use and (ii) not in use.

Mark Prisk: I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 5 February 2013, Official Report, columns 128-29W.

PRIME MINISTER

Middle East

David Winnick: To ask the Prime Minister 
	(1)  in his recent discussions with the US Secretary of State, what emphasis was placed on supplying aid to (a) children in Syria who have lost parents in the conflict in that country and (b) other children in Syria;
	(2)  what discussions he has had with the US Secretary of State on a new US initiative to bring about fresh negotiations in the Palestinian-Israel conflict.

David Cameron: I refer the hon. Member to the press notice issued by my office on 25 February 2013 which is available on the No. 10 website. A copy has been placed in both Libraries of the House.

TRANSPORT

A31: Dorset

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make it his policy to include within the planned works on the A31 at the junction with the lorry park at Ashley Heath work to install dropped kerbs at the junction of the A31 with St Leonards Hospital.

Stephen Hammond: holding answer 25 February 2013
	The distance between the planned works on the A31 junction at Ashley Heath for the lorry park and St Leonards Hospital is too great to include the dropped kerb work at minimal additional cost and as such, this work could not be incorporated if funded.

Air Passenger Duty

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent meetings he has had with representatives of the travel industry to discuss air passenger duty.

Simon Burns: Department for Transport Ministers and officials meet regularly with representatives of the travel industry to discuss a range of transport and aviation issues. The Secretary of State for Transport, my right hon. Friend the Member for Derbyshire Dales (Mr McLoughlin), has had a number of recent meetings with airlines and airports in which air passenger duty has been raised by them. Decisions concerning taxation, including air passenger duty, are a matter for the Chancellor.

Air Passenger Duty

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions he has had with (a) the Chancellor of the Exchequer and (b) other Ministers in the Treasury on air passenger duty.

Simon Burns: The Secretary of State for Transport, my right hon. Friend the Member for Derbyshire Dales (Mr McLoughlin), has frequent discussions with the Chancellor and other Treasury Ministers on a range of subjects. Decisions concerning taxation, including air passenger duty, are taken by the Chancellor.

Brigg

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what funding his Department has allocated to projects in Brigg and Goole constituency since 2010.

Norman Baker: The most recent data available for regional expenditure are the National Statistics Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses for 2011-12. These are identifiable expenditure on services, including transport, by function, country and region. In 2009-10, spend on transport for Yorkshire and the Humber was £1,482 million, in 2010-11 it was £1,393 million and £1,326 million in 2011-12.
	Spend is not broken down below regional level.
	The Department for Transport is not the only public body responsible for transport and a large proportion of expenditure is covered by local government bodies.
	Committed spend is not analysed at a regional level.

Crossrail Line: Stansted Airport

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will commission research on extending the proposed route for Crossrail 2 to Stansted Airport.

Stephen Hammond: The Government has made no decision in relation to Crossrail 2, and the scheme is currently unfunded. The constraints on public finances mean that the Secretary of State for Transport has no immediate plans to commission research into extending the proposed route for Crossrail 2 to Stansted airport. The Department continues to work with Network Rail and the rail industry on its long-term planning process which is considering future rail services to Stansted and other major airports.

Dee Harbour

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the reasons are for the time taken to finalise the Dees Harbour Revision Order; and by what date he expects to have completed the Order for implementation.

Stephen Hammond: It has taken a long time to consider and reach a decision on the Dee Estuary Harbour Revision Order due to the fact that a separate harbour revision order has been put forward by Mostyn Port and the two harbour revision orders conflict with each other. In addition, following an accident, consideration of the two harbour revision orders was deferred while the Marine Accident Investigation Board investigated the accident. There was then further representations about the extent of the jurisdiction of the harbour authorities. Since then the consideration has had to be prioritised alongside other work and the resources are now available to progress this matter to a decision.

Driving Tests

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many driving tests were carried out in languages other than English, Welsh or Scots Gaelic in 2012; which languages such tests were carried out in; and how many tests took place for each such language.

Stephen Hammond: The Driving Standards Agency (DSA) conducted 36,770 practical driving tests with a foreign language interpreter present in 2012. DSA records the presence of an interpreter but does not record the language for which the interpreter was required.
	In the same year DSA conducted a total of 99,427 driving theory tests with a foreign language voice-over. The numbers of tests delivered using foreign language voice-overs, broken down by language and test type are:
	
		
			 Language Test type Number of tests 
			 Albanian Bike 1 
			 Albanian Car 281 
			 Arabic Bike 19 
			 Arabic Car 5160 
			 Bengali Bike 12 
			 Bengali Car 6600 
			 Cantonese Bike 8 
			 Cantonese Car 7656 
			 Dari Bike 1 
			 Dari Car 767 
			 Farsi Bike 57 
			 Farsi Car 4964 
			 Gujurati Bike 9 
			 Gujurati Car 2027 
			 Hindi Car 986 
			 Kashmiri Car 4 
			 Kurdish Bike 7 
			 Kurdish Car 6486 
			 Mirpuri Car 287 
			 Polish Bike 480 
			 Polish Car 12049 
			 Portuguese Bike 107 
			 Portuguese Car 2344 
			 Punjabi Bike 20 
			 Punjabi Car 8401 
			 Pushto Car 384 
			 Spanish-Castilian Bike 27 
			 Spanish-Castilian Car 983 
			 Tamil Bike 7 
			 Tamil Car 6409 
			 Turkish Bike 41 
			 Turkish Car 8891 
			 Urdu Bike 38 
			 Urdu Car 23914 
			 Total  99427 
		
	
	In 2012, DSA also conducted a total of 2,085 driving theory tests with a foreign language translator present. The numbers of theory tests delivered with a foreign language translator present broken down by language and test type are:
	
		
			 Language Test type Number of tests 
			 Bosnian Car 1 
			 Bulgarian Car 24 
			 Cantonese Car 1 
			 Czech Car 2 
			 Farsi Car 1 
			 French Car 5 
			 Hebrew Car 16 
			 Hungarian Car 30 
			 Hungarian Bike 4 
			 Italian Car 1 
			 Lithuanian Car 301 
			 Mandarin Car 420 
			 Mongolian Car 1 
			 Punjabi Car 5 
			 Romanian Car 677 
			 Romanian Bike 3 
			 Russian Car 314 
			 Serbian Car 1 
			 Slovak Car 30 
			 Somali Car 201 
			 Spanish-Castilian Car 1 
			 Thai Car 17 
			 Turkish Car 5 
			 Urdu Car 21 
			 Vietnamese Car 3 
			 Total  2085

Driving Tests

Shaun Woodward: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the average age is of people who pass the driving test and obtain a full driving licence in (a) St Helens South and Whiston constituency, (b) the North West and (c) England.

Stephen Hammond: In 2012 the average age of candidates who passed their practical car driving test and obtained full driving entitlement was:
	(a) 22.5 years in St Helens South and Whiston constituency
	(b) 23.3 years in the North West
	(c) 23.6 years in England

East Coast Railway Line

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent discussions he has had with Network Rail on service standards on the East Coast Main Line; and if he will make a statement.

Norman Baker: I regularly meet senior rail industry representatives to discuss performance matters on the rail network. Recent issues affecting the East Coast route will be discussed at the next such meeting.

Euston Station

Rory Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of potential disruption at Euston Station due to High Speed 2; and what steps he plans to take to minimise any such disruption.

Simon Burns: HS2 will bring many benefits for the travelling public across the country through new high speed railway services and by releasing capacity on the existing railway network. During construction of HS2 at Euston there will inevitably be some disruption to passengers and other station users. HS2 Ltd is working closely with both Network Rail and Transport for London to ensure the disruption to services during construction is minimised and what disruption remains is managed effectively to enable the travelling public to complete their journeys.
	As part of the pre-hybrid Bill consultation planned for later this year we will be assessing the impacts of Phase One of HS2, including the implications of construction at Euston.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Alec Shelbrooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what his Department's plans are for the compensation consultation for Phase 2 of High Speed 2.

Simon Burns: We are currently consulting on an Exceptional Hardship Scheme for Phase Two. The consultation document can be found at
	http://www.hs2.org.uk
	Answers can be made online via the same website. Alternative formats are available and consultation responses can also be sent by post or by e-mail. The consultation will run from 28 January 2013 to 29 April 2013, after which the responses will be considered and we will publish a summary report along with next steps.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 12 September 2012, Official Report, column 243W, on High Speed 2 railway line, what the total cost to the public purse of High Speed 2 has been to date across all Government departments.

Simon Burns: I refer my right hon. Friend to my answer of 28 February 2013, Official Report, column 588W.
	The expenditure on High Speed 2 by other Government Departments is not held by the Department. My right hon. Friend would need to approach other Departments directly for this information.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to bring forward a paving bill to authorise further spending on High Speed 2; how much capital the bill will secure for the project; and which specific aspects of High Speed 2 will be funded by the capital so authorised.

Simon Burns: When parliamentary time allows, it is the Secretary of State’s intention to introduce a HS2 paving bill. The content of the legislative programme for the third session will be set out in the Queen's speech in May.
	The proposed paving bill would ensure that we are able to deliver the HS2 project as fast as possible. It would provide the Secretary of State with parliamentary approval to incur essential expenditure on preparatory works in advance of the proposed hybrid bill achieving Royal Assent. This would allow the construction programme to proceed as quickly as possible thereafter. These preparatory works will include undertaking detailed construction design, procurement activities and further ecological surveys for the project.
	We have not assigned a direct cash correlation to the distinct amount of expenditure the paving bill will facilitate separate to the rest of the HS2 project.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the current spending limit put in place for the High Speed 2 project is; and how close his Department is to reaching that limit.

Simon Burns: The current total budget in the financial year 2012-13 for both HS2 Ltd and the Department for Transport is approximately £224 million. Forecast expenditure for this financial year is expected to be around £214 million. For the financial years 2013-14 and 2014-15 the budgets are yet to be determined and are going through a process of finalisation.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the projected average speed is for trains on (a) phase one of High Speed 2, (b) the Manchester route of phase two of High Speed 2 and (c) the Leeds route of phase two of High Speed 2.

Simon Burns: Trains would initially be capable of reaching a maximum operating speed of 225 miles per hour (360kph). The railway alignment is being designed to be capable of operating at up to 250 miles per hour (400kph).

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Alec Shelbrooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport on what basis compensation packages will be calculated for those properties affected by noise pollution and visual impairment as a result of High Speed 2; and whether such properties will be eligible for compensation before completion of the track.

Simon Burns: We will follow the existing compensation code, as set out in Part 1 of the Land Compensation Act 1973, subject to any enhancements offered following the Phase 2 property compensation consultation we intend to carry out in the future.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Alec Shelbrooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how his Department defines areas on the route of High Speed 2 as (a) rural and (b) urban; and how his Department classifies Woodlesford, West Yorkshire under such a definition.

Simon Burns: The Phase two initial preferred route of HS2 has not been categorised into either urban or rural for the appraisal work undertaken to date.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

David Mowat: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether and to what extent the maximum distance a property must be from the route of High Speed 2 to be eligible for an exceptional hardship payment will be affected by the relative height above ground of the route at that point.

Simon Burns: We are currently consulting on the Exceptional Hardship scheme for Phase Two of High Speed 2, and I cannot pre-judge the outcome of that consultation. However, for the Exceptional Hardship scheme for Phase One there is no maximum distance within which a property must be in order to qualify for the Exceptional Hardship scheme. The decision is a matter of judgement, with each property being considered against a range of factors. In considering the location of a property, aside from the property's distance from the line of route, there these factors include:
	the particular characteristics of the property and the nature of its local area, including its position and its surroundings;
	the character of the line once completed (for example whether it will run in a cutting or on a viaduct);
	the likely impacts of the construction of the line in the area;
	the topography of the area (for example if it is a flat flood plain or hilly); and
	the distance to any nearby points of significant change to the character of the line, for example a cut and cover tunnel entrance or a viaduct.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many consultants are working in his Department on High Speed 2 and related matters; by which organisations such consultants are employed; and what amount (a) has been paid to date and (b) is due to be paid to all consultants working on High Speed 2.

Simon Burns: There are currently no consultants working in the Department for Transport on High Speed 2, or related matters.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many civil servants of each grade are working on High Speed 2; and what the total cost of such officials is in (a) salaries and (b) overheads associated with their employment.

Simon Burns: The number of civil servants in each grade working on High Speed 2 together with total salaries and overheads are shown in the following table. This includes those working in the Department as well as those seconded to HS2 Ltd.
	
		
			 Grade Number of civil servants employed Total monthly cost of salaries(1) 
			 SCS3 1 (2)308,000 
			 SCS2 4 (2)— 
			 SCS1 7 (2)— 
			 PB7 10 (2)— 
			 PB6 22 (2)— 
			 PB5 4 (2)— 
			 PB4/FS 14 (2)— 
			 PB3 2 (2)— 
			 PB2 2 (2)— 
			 (1) This comprises 21 staff working in HS2 Ltd as at January 2013 at cost of £101,000 and 45 staff working in DFT at monthly cost of £207,000. (2) Represents brace. 
		
	
	The Department does not apportion its central overheads but the approximate total cost of the civil servants monthly overhead working at HS2 Ltd is £59,000.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much (a) his Department and (b) HS2 Ltd has paid in fees to WS Atkins for advice concerning High Speed 2 in each financial year for which information is available.

Simon Burns: The fees paid to WS Atkins Ltd in the last four financial years for advice and transport assessment modelling are as follows:
	
		
			 Payments by HS2 Ltd to WS Atkins Ltd 
			 Financial year Fee amount paid (£) 
			 2012-13(1) 14,901,104 
			 2011-12 539,794 
			 2010-11 391,015 
			 2009-10 1,240,487 
			 (1) From April 2012 to end of January 2013 as this is the latest information available. 
		
	
	
		
			 Payments by DFT to Atkins Ltd 
			 Financial year Fee amount paid (£) 
			 2011-12 79,229

Large Goods Vehicles: Exhaust Emissions

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate his Department has made of the carbon emissions produced by heavy goods vehicles at (a) 40 mph and (b) 50 mph; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Hammond: In 2009 the Transport Research Laboratory developed a set of carbon dioxide emission speed curves for road vehicles. Different emission curves were developed for articulated heavy goods vehicles and rigid heavy goods vehicles and also the various emission standards for heavy goods vehicles were taken into consideration. Size of vehicle is another important factor. The parameters of these curves were published at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/road-vehicle-emission-factors-2009
	and in particular in a spreadsheet at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/4256/regulated.xls
	This enables the calculation of average emission factors in grams of carbon dioxide per kilometre for a heavy goods vehicle travelling at a particular speed. The actual carbon dioxide emissions of a vehicle also depend on driver behaviour and age of vehicle. Average carbon dioxide emissions for different heavy goods vehicle types are given in the following table:
	
		
			 Carbon dioxide emissions from heavy goods vehicles at 40 mph and 50 mph 
			 Vehicle type Weight limit (tonnes) Emission standard CO2 grams per kilometre at 40 mph (64 km/h) CO2 grams per kilometre at 50 mph (80 km/h) 
			 HGV—rigid 3.5-7.5 t Pre-Euro I 355 389 
			 HGV—rigid 3.5-7.5 t Euro I 309 344 
			 HGV—rigid 3.5-7.5 t Euro II 298 334 
			 HGV—rigid 3.5-7.5 t Euro III 313 346 
			 HGV—rigid 3.5-7.5 t Euro IV 294 324 
			 HGV—rigid 3.5-7.5 t Euro V 297 327 
			 HGV—rigid 3.5-7.5 t Euro VI 297 327 
			 HGV—rigid 7.5-12 t Pre-Euro I 500 517 
			 HGV—rigid 7.5-12 t Euro I 438 465 
			 HGV—rigid 7.5-12 t Euro II 424 453 
			 HGV—rigid 7.5-12 t Euro III 443 471 
			 HGV—rigid 7.5-12 t Euro IV 417 441 
			 HGV—rigid 7.5-12 t Euro V 424 446 
			 HGV—rigid 7.5-12 t Euro VI 424 446 
			 HGV—rigid 12-14 t Pre-Euro I 539 556 
			 HGV—rigid 12-14 t Euro I 475 494 
			 HGV—rigid 12-14 t Euro II 460 477 
			 HGV—rigid 12-14 t Euro III 479 496 
			 HGV—rigid 12-14 t Euro IV 448 463 
			 HGV—rigid 12-14 t Euro V 455 469 
			 HGV—rigid 12-14 t Euro VI 455 469 
			 HGV—rigid 14-20 t Pre-Euro I 676 702 
			 HGV—rigid 14-20 t Euro I 566 587 
			 HGV—rigid 14-20 t Euro II 547 567 
			 HGV—rigid 14-20 t Euro III 568 589 
			 HGV—rigid 14-20 t Euro IV 532 552 
			 HGV—rigid 14-20 t Euro V 540 560 
			 HGV—rigid 14-20 t Euro VI 540 560 
			 HGV—rigid 20-26 t Pre-Euro I. 808 840 
			 HGV—rigid 20-26 t Euro I 706 734 
			 HGV—rigid 20-26 t Euro II 689 714 
			 HGV—rigid 20-26 t Euro III 708 735 
			 HGV—rigid 20-26 t Euro IV 660 685 
			 HGV—rigid 20-26 t Euro V 670 696 
			 HGV—rigid 20-26 t Euro VI 670 696 
			 HGV—rigid 26-28 t Pre-Euro I 860 893 
			 HGV—rigid 26-28 t Euro I 752 781 
			 HGV—rigid 26-28 t Euro II 733 762 
			 HGV—rigid 26-28 t Euro III 754 782 
		
	
	
		
			 HGV—rigid 26-28 t Euro IV 702 728 
			 HGV—rigid 26-28 t Euro V 712 740 
			 HGV—rigid 26-28 t Euro VI 712 740 
			 HGV—rigid 28-32 t Pre-Euro I 977 1,016 
			 HGV—rigid 28-32 t Euro I 869 901 
			 HGV—rigid 28-32 t Euro II 852 883 
			 HGV—rigid 28-32 t Euro III 873 905 
			 HGV—rigid 28-32 t Euro IV 812 843 
			 HGV—rigid 28-32 t Euro V 825 856 
			 HGV—rigid 28-32 t Euro VI 825 856 
			 HGV—rigid >32 t Pre-Euro I 972 1,009 
			 HGV—rigid >32 t Euro I 860 894 
			 HGV—rigid >32 t Euro II 845 877 
			 HGV—rigid >32 t Euro III 861 893 
			 HGV—rigid >32 t Euro IV 800 830 
			 HGV—rigid >32 t Euro V 812 843 
			 HGV—rigid >32 t Euro VI 812 843 
			 HGV—artic 14-20 t Pre-Euro I 642 667 
			 HGV—artic 14-20 t Euro I 553 575 
			 HGV—artic 14-20 t Euro II 536 555 
			 HGV—artic 14-20 t Euro III 555 576 
			 HGV—artic 14-20 t Euro IV 520 540 
			 HGV—artic 14-20 t Euro V 528 549 
			 HGV—artic 14-20 t Euro VI 528 549 
			 HGV—artic 20-28 t Pre-Euro I 810 841 
			 HGV—artic 20-28 t Euro I 726 754 
			 HGV—artic 20-28 t Euro II 699 726 
			 HGV—artic 20-28 t Euro III 719 746 
			 HGV—artic 20-28 t Euro IV 671 696 
			 HGV—artic 20-28 t Euro V 681 707 
			 HGV—artic 20-28 t Euro VI 681 707 
			 HGV—artic 28-34 t Pre-Euro I 857 889 
			 HGV—artic 28-34 t Euro I 771 801 
			 HGV—artic 28-34 t Euro II 745 774 
			 HGV—artic 28-34 t Euro III 764 793 
			 HGV—artic 28-34 t Euro IV 711 738 
			 HGV—artic 28-34 t Euro V 722 749 
			 HGV—artic 28-34 t Euro VI 722 749 
			 HGV—artic 34-40 t Pre-Euro I 980 1,017 
			 HGV—artic 34-40 t Euro I 869 902 
			 HGV—artic 34-40 t Euro II 855 887 
			 HGV—artic 34-40 t Euro III 871 903 
			 HGV—artic 34-40 t Euro IV 808 838 
			 HGV—artic 34-40 t Euro V 821 851 
			 HGV—artic 34-40 t Euro VI 821 851 
			 HGV—artic 40-50 t Pre-Euro I 1,100 1,141 
			 HGV—artic 40-50 t Euro I 975 1,012 
			 HGV—artic 40-50 t Euro II 963 999 
			 HGV—artic 40-50 t Euro III 978 1,014 
			 HGV—artic 40-50 t Euro IV 907 940 
			 HGV—artic 40-50 t Euro V 921 955 
			 HGV—artic 40-50 t Euro VI 921 955

Motor Vehicles: Testing

Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether there is a requirement in MOT vehicle testing for there to be a visual inspection of a vehicle to ensure that a diesel particulate filter fitted at manufacture is still present.

Stephen Hammond: There are no physical checks to establish whether or not a diesel particulate filter is fitted to a vehicle for MOT purposes. If the required emission values are met during a metered smoke check the vehicle will pass the emission test.

Motorways: Litter

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  what steps he plans to take in respect of his duties under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, section 89(1)(b) and (2)(b), to ensure that the hard shoulder lane on the M60 between the River Tame in Denton and Junction 23 in Audenshaw is kept clear of litter;
	(2)  what steps he plans to take in respect of his duties under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, section 89(1)(b) and (2)(b), to ensure that the M67 Junction 1a slip roads in Denton are kept clear of litter;
	(3)  what steps he plans to take in respect of his duties under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, section 89(1)(b) and (2)(b), to ensure that the M60, M67 and A57 roundabout at Junction 24 in Denton is kept clear of litter;
	(4)  what steps he plans to take in respect of his duties under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, section 89(1)(b) and (2)(b), to ensure that the M67 Junction 1 slip roads in Denton are kept clear of litter;
	(5)  what steps he plans to take in respect of his duties under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 section 89(1)(b) and (2)(b), to ensure that the M67 Junction 2 slip roads are kept clear of litter;
	(6)  what steps he plans to take in respect of his duties under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 section 89(1)(b) and (2)(b), to ensure that the M67 embankments between Junction 1 and the River Tame in Denton are kept clear of litter;
	(7)  what steps he plans to take in respect of his duties under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 section 89(1)(b) and (2)(b), to ensure that the M67 central reservations between Junction 1 and the River Tame in Denton are kept clear of litter;
	(8)  what steps he plans to take in respect of his duties under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 section 89(1)(b) and (2)(b), to ensure that the hard shoulder lane on the M67 between Junction 1 and the River Tame in Denton are kept clear of litter;
	(9)  what steps he plans to take in respect of his duties under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 section 89(1)(b) and (2)(b), to ensure that the M60 Junction 24 slip roads in Denton are kept clear of litter;
	(10)  what steps he plans to take in respect of his duties under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 section 89(1)(b) and (2)(b), to ensure that the M67 Junction 23 slip roads in Audenshaw are kept clear of litter;
	(11)  what steps he plans to take in respect of his duties under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 section 89(1)(b) and (2)(b), to ensure that the M60 embankments between the River Tame in Denton and Junction 23 in Audenshaw are kept clear of litter;
	(12)  what steps he plans to take in respect of his duties under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 section 89(1)(b) and (2)(b), to ensure that the M60 central reservations between the River Tame in Denton and Junction 23 in Audenshaw are kept clear of litter.

Stephen Hammond: The Highways Agency is obliged, by the Environmental Protection Act 1990, to remove litter from motorways and a small number of trunk roads in England. This includes slip-roads, central reservations, verges, and embankments. This arrangement has regard to the nature and use of the highway, and the need to limit disruption to traffic. The Act is supplemented by a code of practice which specifies standards of cleanliness and response times.
	The code of practice grades litter into four levels (Grades A to D), in which Grade A is ‘no litter or refuse’ and Grade D is ‘heavily affected by litter and/or refuse with significant accumulations’. Each grading specifies a response time for the removal of litter. The code requires highways to be generally maintained to Grade A level although it recognises that this level cannot be maintained at all times. It also recognises that it may not be practicable to remove all litter items from some softer or non-metalled surfaces, such as grass or sand, and the grading system reflects this.
	The agency undertakes a regime of sweeping and litter picking on the M60 and M67 motorways in compliance with the code. I have asked the agency to ensure that these standards are being maintained.
	Responsibility for litter removal from most trunk roads falls to the relevant local authority where the route runs through its geographical area. Tameside metropolitan borough council is responsible for removing litter from the A57 trunk road circulatory carriageway at Junction 24 of the M60. These arrangements at the interface of the local and strategic road networks are well established.

Rail Value for Money Review

Richard Fuller: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what progress his Department has made in achieving the 30 per cent savings identified in the McNulty Review.

Simon Burns: Network Rail is due to achieve significant efficiency savings between April 2009 (i.e. the baseline year used by McNulty) and March 2014. Its Strategic Business Plan for 2014-19, published in January 2013, sets out how it will achieve further savings over the period 2014-19. Its goal by 2019 is to close the efficiency gap against the best international comparators identified by Sir Roy McNulty.
	Meanwhile, following the pause in our franchise programme, we will set out this spring our proposals for future franchise competitions that can facilitate key train operator efficiencies.

Railways

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the Rail in the North proposals made by Integrated Transport Authorities.

Simon Burns: Following our consultation on Rail Decentralisation last year, 'Rail in the North' (RiN) submitted an expression of interest in taking responsibility for train services currently provided in the Northern and Trans Pennine Express franchises. Informal discussions are continuing at official level and we are currently expecting RiN to submit a detailed proposal later this year for our consideration.

Railways: Franchises

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will assess the benefits and disadvantages of (a) decentralisation and (b) increasing local democratic control of rail franchises.

Simon Burns: The Government set out its commitment to devolution in the Command Paper: Reforming our Railways: Putting the Customer First. Local bodies who wish to take greater responsibility will have to submit a business case setting out the costs and benefits of their decentralisation proposal.

Railways: Greater London

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of passenger satisfaction levels for London Overground since 2007; and how that assessment will inform his Department's approach to future suburban rail services.

Simon Burns: As part of its consideration of devolution of suburban rail services, the Government has analysed improvements in customer satisfaction (from the National Passenger Survey) and train performance on London Overground since Transport for London (TfL) took over in 2007. Both measures have improved dramatically, partly due to major investments and other expenditures and partly due to TfL's good management of its concession. This assessment is one of a number of factors that will inform our decision on any further devolution.

Rescue Services: Belfast

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he has reviewed the risk-assessed staffing levels at Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre (MRCC) Belfast since it took over responsibility for the area of coast previously covered by MRCC Clyde.

Stephen Hammond: I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 26 February 2013, Official Report, column 371W.

Roads: Litter

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much the Highways Agency has spent on clearing litter from the road network in each of the last five years.

Stephen Hammond: The Highways Agency is responsible for picking litter on England's motorways and a small proportion of the all purpose trunk road network. Local authorities are responsible for picking litter on the rest of the road network.
	The Highways Agency's maintenance contracts are structured so that managing agents are paid a 'lump sum' for a wide range of general maintenance duties. These include sweeping, cleaning and litter clearance duties. The agency does not disaggregate its budget and spend on these types of activities—and exact litter clearance costs cannot be extracted as the activity is performed on both a routine and ad-hoc basis to meet contractual requirements.
	It is estimated that over 180,000 sacks of litter are collected by the Highways Agency every year. The cost of collection, after allowing for overheads, traffic management to protect staff and the cost of disposal is currently estimated to be in the region of £10 million per annum.

Travel: Concessions

Ian Mearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what his policy is on the provision of concessionary travel schemes for people aged under 18 years in education or training; and what recent discussions he has had with bus operators on the implications for concessionary fare schemes of the increase in the school leaving age to (a) 17 in 2013 and (b) 18 in 2015.

Norman Baker: The responsibility for post 16 transport support lies with local authorities. The authorities have a legal duty to set out in a transport statement the arrangements they consider necessary to enable young people to attend post-16 education. The Government recognises that some students find it difficult to pay for education-related costs, and this is one of the reasons why it introduced the 16-19 Bursary Fund. Local authorities and providers are encouraged to work together to ensure that post 16 transport support, and the 16-19 Bursary fund are used effectively together to help meet transport costs.
	I hold regular discussions with bus operators—and other stakeholders—and have asked the industry to consider offering travel discounts to all those aged 18 and under, not just to those in education but to youngsters entering the world of work for the first time, for example in an apprenticeship.

ATTORNEY-GENERAL

Frances Andrade

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney-General what support and liaison was offered by the Crown Prosecution Service to the late Frances Andrade between complaint and trial and during the trial.

Dominic Grieve: The Director of Public Prosecutions will shortly be conducting a Post-Conviction Case Review to which Mrs Andrade's family have been invited so that he and they can fully understand the handling of the case. The DPP is responding to you separately with the details of the support given to Mrs Andrade. The Secretary of State for the Home Department, my right hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May), has also set out that the police will be looking at their involvement in the case.

Serious Fraud Office

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney-General 
	(1)  what (a) bonuses, (b) travel expenses, (c) severance pay and (d) other income in addition to his basic salary the former Serious Fraud Office (SFO) Chief Operating Officer, Chris Bailes, received from the public purse arising from his employment at the SFO;
	(2)  what the salary was of the former Chief Operating Officer of the Serious Fraud Office, Chris Bailes, during the period in which he held that post.

Oliver Heald: Christian Bailes was appointed as Chief Operating Office of the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) on 1 April 2010. The information requested is set out in the following table:
	
		
			 £ 
			  2010-11 2011-12 Apr to Dec 2012 
			 Basic salary 110,000 110,000 82,500 
			 Bonuses(1) 8,000 10,000 10,500 
			 Excess fares 8,177 6,698 6,222 
			 Compensation in lieu of notice and sale of annual leave 0 0 37,248 
			 (1) Note that bonuses are paid in the year following the year for which they are awarded. 
		
	
	Christian Bailes left the SFO under voluntary redundancy terms in December 2012. Under the terms agreed, the SFO made a payment of £409,114 to ‘My Civil Service Pension’ to cover all additional pension costs arising from his departure.
	An ex gratia payment of £15,000, also part of the agreement, is yet to be paid.

Serious Fraud Office

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney-General 
	(1)  what (a) bonuses, (b) travel expenses, (c) severance pay and (d) other income in addition to her basic salary the former Serious Fraud Office (SFO) Chief Executive, Phillippa Williamson, received from the public purse arising from her employment at the SFO;
	(2)  what the salary was of the former Chief Executive of the Serious Fraud Office, Phillippa Williamson, during the period in which she held that post.

Oliver Heald: Phillippa Williamson was appointed as Chief Executive of the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) on 1 January 2010. The information requested is set out in the following table:
	
		
			 £ 
			  Jan to Apr 2010 2010-11 2011-12 April 2012 
			 Basic salary 30,000 120,000 120,000 5,333 
			 Bonuses(1) 0 12,000 12,500 12,500 
			 Excess fares 0 0 10,451 1,297 
			 Compensation in lieu of notice and sale of annual leave 0 0 0 49,182 
			 Benefits in kind 7,144 24,302 7,686 906 
			 Ex gratia payments 0 0 0 15,000 
			 Any other income from SFO 0 0 0 23,467 
			 (1) Note that bonuses are paid in the year following the year for which they were awarded. 
		
	
	Phillippa Williamson left the SFO under voluntary redundancy terms in April 2012. Under the terms agreed, the SFO made a payment of £407,245 to ‘My Civil Service Pension’ to cover all additional pension costs arising from her departure.

ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Climate Change

Gary Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent assessment his Department has made of the evidence supporting claims of man-made climate change; and if he will make a statement.

Gregory Barker: The scientific evidence for man-made climate change is considerable and continues to grow. Global near-surface average temperatures have increased by about 0.8°C since 1900. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report in 2007 concluded that it is very likely that greenhouse gas emissions from human activity have caused most of the warming we have experienced since the mid 20th century. Subsequent peer-reviewed studies and assessments have provided further evidence of the growing influence of human activities on climate, including for example, the National Academies of Science 2010 report on Advancing the Science of Climate Change(1), the Stott et al 2010 review of climate change from a regional perspective(2) and the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society's 2012 Special Report on extreme events and their attribution(3).
	The global temperature record shows that long-term warming is continuing; the last decade was the warmest in the instrumental record (since 1850) and each of the last three decades have been significantly warmer than the preceding one. The joint warmest individual years in the record were 2005 and 2010. Over the past decade the rate of warming has been less than in the preceding decades, however, such variations are to be expected because of natural fluctuations within the climate system. Over the same period other aspects of the climate system have shown considerable change including for example: a dramatic decline in Arctic sea-ice in summer; continuing global sea-level rise; continuing retreat of most glaciers worldwide; and accumulation of heat in the world's oceans.
	There have also been a number of detailed studies which have shown how the likelihood of some extreme weather and climate events has been increased due to increasing greenhouse gas concentrations, including, for example, the Texas heat wave in 2011, unusual warmth in England in the autumn of 2011, the UK floods in autumn 2000 and the European hot summer in 2003.
	In the absence of measures to significantly reduce global emissions of greenhouse gases global temperatures are projected, as best estimates, to increase by 1.8°C (for a low emissions scenario) to 4.0°C (for high emissions) by late 21 century (IPCC, 2007), leading to further ice loss and sea level rise and increasing the frequency and intensity of storms, floods, droughts and heat-waves. The risks of rapid and irreversible changes in parts of the large-scale climate system are also expected to increase.
	In view of the growing evidence of climatic changes due to human activities and the projections of future change, the Government are taking action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions domestically in line with its commitments under the Climate Change Act and is working internationally to adopt a legally binding global agreement applicable to all Parties by 2015, to come into force from 2020 with the long term aim of avoiding dangerous levels of climate change, by keeping the global temperature rise below 2°C.
	(1 )National Academies of Science Report, 2010. America's Climate Choices: Advancing the Science of Climate Change. The National Academies Press, Washington D.C.
	https://download.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12782
	(2) Stott, P. A., N. P. Gillett, G. C. Hegerl, D. Karoly, D. Stone, X. Zhang, F. Zwiers, 2010. Detection and attribution of climate chanpe: a regional perspective. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change.
	(3 )Peterson, Thomas C, Peter A. Stott, Stephanie Herring, 2012: Explaining Extreme Events of 2011 from a Climate Perspective. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 93, 1041-1067. doi:
	http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-12-00021.1

Energy: Billing

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps he is taking to prevent energy bills from rising in the next decade.

Gregory Barker: Due to expected rises in fossil fuel prices and the need to replace aging network infrastructure, we expect energy bills to continue rising with or without policies over the next decade. However, the Government are doing everything we can to reduce the impacts of these rising costs, while we maintain secure energy supplies and tackle emissions.
	Energy and climate change policies are expected to lead to lower household energy bills by 2020 than if these policies had never been introduced. This is because the costs of policies to support increasing low carbon investment and energy efficiency are expected to be more than offset, on average, by the savings delivered through greater efficiency:
	By 2022, around half the UK household population is expected to have at least one major insulation measure delivered through supplier obligations (such as the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target and Energy Company Obligation) since 2002;
	Further households could also benefit from efficiency improvements if they choose to take up a Green Deal;
	Tighter efficiency standards are now in place for household energy appliances and gas condensing boilers; and
	Smart Meters will be rolled out to all households by the end of 2019, helping them make more informed energy decisions.
	Beyond energy efficiency policies, eligible households can benefit from the Warm Home Discount through rebates on their electricity bills. In addition, the Government are taking powers through the Energy Bill to ensure that consumers will be on the cheapest tariff for their preferences should Ofgem's Retail Market Reforms be delayed or frustrated.
	Our proposals on Electricity Market Reform will ensure low-carbon technologies can compete fairly on cost and deliver secure energy at the lowest possible cost to consumers—maintaining affordable electricity bills for households and businesses while delivering the investment needed.
	We recognise, however, that, over the medium-term, energy and climate change policies are likely to lead to higher electricity bills for business users. This is why we intend to implement measures to ease the transitional impact of policy on electricity prices for the most electricity-intensive industries whose competitiveness is placed most at risk. Subject to State Aid, a compensation package for the indirect costs of EU ETS and the Carbon Price Floor will begin in 2013 and be .worth around £250 million over the spending review period.
	Government are also seeking to exempt energy intensive industries from the costs of Contracts for Difference. This will be subject to consultation and State Aid approval.

Energy: Finance

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change which (a) local authorities and (b) third sector organisations have (i) applied for and (ii) received funding through the Cheaper Energy Together Fund; and how much funding each such body has received since the fund was established.

Gregory Barker: The Cheaper Energy Together collective switching fund was open to local authorities and third sector organisations in Great Britain. The Department received 114 applications with funding awarded to 31 projects, covering 94 local authorities and eight third sector organisations. The applicants are listed as follows. Some organisations put in more than one bid.
	Local authorities
	Cherwell District Council
	LB of Havering
	South Ayrshire Council
	Derby City Council
	Derbyshire County Council
	Oxfordshire Rural Community Council
	North Norfolk District Council
	Breckland Council
	Tunbridge Borough Council
	Nottingham City Council
	Nottinghamshire County Council
	LB of Barking and Dagenham
	Lincolnshire County Council
	Northumberland County Council
	Newcastle City Council
	South Lakeland District Council
	Peterborough City Council
	Aylesbury Vale District Council
	Merthyr Tydfil County Council
	Cyngor Gwynedd
	Blackburn and Darwen Borough Council
	South Tyneside Council
	Ceredigion County Council
	Ashfield District Council
	Exeter City Council
	Birmingham City Council
	LB of Islington
	Oldham Council
	LB of Tower Hamlets
	Wiltshire Council
	Rhondda Cynon Taf County Council
	Rutland County Council
	RB of Kingston upon Thames
	Monmouthshire County Council
	Cardiff Council
	Eastbourne Borough Council
	Allerdale Borough Council
	Corby Borough Council/Electric Corby
	Colchester Borough Council
	Dudley Met, Borough Council
	Kings Lynn and West Norfolk Borough Council
	Rotherham Met. Borough Council
	Portsmouth City Council
	Eastleigh Borough Council
	Calderdale Council
	Plymouth City Council
	Norwich City Council
	Sheffield City Council
	South Holland District Council
	Woking Borough Council
	Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council
	Suffolk County Council
	Hull City Council
	Southend on Sea Council
	North Warwickshire Council
	Broadland District Council
	Cheshire West and Chester Council
	Isle of Wight Council
	Luton Borough Council
	Newcastle upon Lyme Council
	Carlisle City Council
	Blackpool Council
	Bournemouth Borough Council
	Windsor and Maidenhead Council
	Stoke on Trent Council
	Reading Borough Council
	Cornwall Council
	East Riding Council
	Coventry City Council
	Gateshead Council
	Cheshire East Council
	Southampton City Council
	Northampton Borough Council
	Dorset County Council
	Sunderland City Council
	Third Sector Organisations
	Fownhope Parish Council
	Sustainable Home Survey Company
	iPower Action
	NSA Afan
	Gwent Energy
	Act on Energy
	East Durham Homes
	National Energy Action
	Centre for Sustainable Energy
	Age UK
	Community Energy Plus
	Brighton and Hove Energy Services
	Get Stronger Together
	Cottsway Housing Association
	Mantell Gwynedd
	Rushmoor Healthy Living
	Cornwall Rural Community Council
	Circle Housing
	Eden Project
	EST Wales
	Community Enterprise East London
	Green Community Buildings Project
	Changeworks
	TT. Brixton Community
	Community Energy Direct
	Yorkshire Energy Partnership
	SCVO
	Wootton Parish Council
	People's Power
	Locality
	Energy Projects Plus
	Improvement and Efficiency West Midlands
	The Gates Arts and Community Centre
	Leicester and Rutland Rural Community
	The following table shows the amount of funding applied for by the successful applicants and the amount they have received since the fund was established.
	
		
			 £ 
			 Successful applicants Amount of funding granted Amount of funding received 
			 Calderdale Council 40,000 — 
			 Norwich City Council 26,000 10,539 
			 Sheffield City Council 93,656 — 
			 Isle of Wight Council 88,927 — 
			 Broadland District Council 37,500 — 
			 East Riding Council. 428,725 — 
			 Coventry City Council 63,000 — 
			 Cheshire East Council 71,000 — 
			 Woking Borough Council 26,000 26,000 
			 North Norfolk District Council 18,500 3,568 
			 Tunbridge Wells Borough Council 20,700 1,056 
			 Nottingham City Council 52,000 — 
			 Northumberland County Council 59,750 — 
			 Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council 139,000 — 
			 South Tyneside Council 20,500 — 
			 Exeter City Council 160,070 — 
			 Peterborough City Council 36,230 — 
			 Birmingham City Council 312,000 — 
			 Oldham 438,000 — 
			 London Borough of Tower Hamlets 37,351 — 
			 Wiltshire Council 49,000 — 
			 Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames 686,655 24,037 
			 Centre for Sustainable Energy 194,892 25,837 
			 Age UK 104,000 47,326 
			 Community Energy Plus 59,000 11,260 
			 Eden Project 895,000 600,000 
			 Changeworks 414,889 108,107 
			 Community Energy Direct 280,000 62,969 
			 Yorkshire Energy Partnership 59,100 12,438 
		
	
	
		
			 People's Power 178,400 22,051 
			 Electric Corby/Corby Borough Council 112,500 4,000

Energy: Prices

Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what the average cost was of a typical dual fuel bill in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) the UK in each of the last five years.

Gregory Barker: The UK electricity market is divided into regions based on public electricity supply (PES) areas, whilst the gas market is split into regions based on local distribution zones (LDZ). Electricity and gas suppliers vary prices between these regions but not within them, with the same tariffs available to all customers within the area.
	Because of this, dual fuel bills in Jarrow, South Tyneside and the North East will all be the same (assuming the same consumption levels), as these areas will pay the same average prices for gas and electricity. These areas are in the ‘Northern’ LDZ region for gas supply, and the ‘North Eastern’ PES region for electricity supply.
	The following table shows the estimated average annual dual fuel bills for customers in the North East and the UK as a whole in the last five years. These are based on an assumed annual consumption of 18,000kWh of gas and 3,300kWh of electricity per year.
	
		
			 £ 
			  The North East (including South Tyneside and Jarrow constituency) Overall UK average (GB data for gas) 
			 2008 1,051 1,029 
			 2009 1,109 1,110 
			 2010 1,063 1,076 
			 2011 1,152 1,172 
			 2012 (provisional) 1,254 1,276 
		
	
	These estimates can be found in table 2.2.3 (electricity) and 2.3.3 (gas) of DECC's quarterly energy prices publication:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/annual-domestic-energy-price-statistics
	The bills shown are provisional bills for 2012, and actual bills for 2008-11. They are averaged across the different methods by which customers can pay their bills i.e. standard credit, direct debit and pre-payment meter.

Energy: Prices

Bob Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent research his Department has carried out on the effect of rising energy bills on elderly people.

Gregory Barker: The Department of Energy and Climate Change publishes an analytical report looking at the cumulative impact of energy and climate change policies costs on energy prices and bills. This also includes analysis of the impact across different household compositions, including those with elderly occupants. The last published report can be found online at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/68820/3593-estimated-impacts-of-our-policies-on-energy-prices.pdf
	DECC also publishes an annual report on fuel poverty which sets out analysis of the characteristics of those in fuel poverty, including the elderly. This report also looks at the impact of the drivers of fuel poverty, including changes in prices. The latest report is available online at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/66016/5270-annual-report-fuel-poverty-stats-2012.pdf
	The Government are committed to addressing the needs of low income pensioner households, which can receive support under a number of different policies, including direct help with energy bills through the Warm Home Discount scheme. As part of this scheme, this winter over one million of the poorest pensioners automatically received a discount on their electricity bill of £130 before 31 December 2012. We also provide energy efficiency help for low income and vulnerable households through the Energy Company Obligation, to help households reduce their heating costs.
	In addition, the Department for Work and Pensions also provide winter fuel payments to all pensioner household and many low income pensioners receive cold weather payments during periods of cold weather.

Nuclear Power Stations

Margaret Ritchie: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent meetings he has had with energy firms on guaranteed strike prices for future nuclear plants.

John Hayes: DECC Ministers and officials meet regularly with potential nuclear developers to discuss a broad range of issues including contracts for difference and the associated market reforms being enacted to provide a stable environment for bringing forward the significant investment in low carbon electricity that is required.

Nuclear Power Stations

Margaret Ritchie: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the cost of guaranteeing prices for firms who commit to the new nuclear programme.

John Hayes: Should contracts for difference for new nuclear projects be agreed, the actual costs or benefits to consumers will depend on variations in the wholesale electricity price in relation to the agreed strike price.
	Contracts for difference will only be agreed if they are fair, affordable and value for money for consumers. We are committed to being transparent about the terms on which any deal is agreed.

Plutonium

Phillip Lee: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will take steps to achieve better value for money in the management of the UK's plutonium stock.

John Hayes: The Government published its preferred policy for the management of the plutonium stock in December 2011, which is reused as mixed oxide fuel (MOX). Implementation of this policy is subject to being confident that this option could be implemented safely and securely, that is affordable, deliverable, and offers value for money. However we remain open to credible alternatives that may offer better value for money for taxpayers.

United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much grant the Government provided to the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority in each year of its operation.

David Willetts: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Department for Business, Innovations and Skills.
	From currently available financial records, the Government grant in aid provided to the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority in past years is:
	
		
			 Grant in aid provided to UK Atomic Energy Authority 
			  £000 
			 2004-05 28,569 
			 2005-06 9,726 
			 2006-07 12,300 
			 2007-08 5,454 
			 2008-09 5,274 
			 2009-10 6,660 
			 2010-11 7,837 
			 2011-12 11,300 
		
	
	The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills does not hold financial records for earlier years.
	The Government grant funds residual government liabilities managed by the Authority relating to restructuring costs, administration of the UKAEA pensions schemes, personal injury claims and property management. These grants do not relate to nuclear decommissioning costs as responsibility transferred to the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority which was created in December 2004.

JUSTICE

HM Courts and Tribunals Service

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice on how many occasions HM Courts and Tribunal Service Social Security and Child Support Appeals Centre failed to meet its targets in respect of response letters in the latest period for which figures are available.

Helen Grant: The First-tier Tribunal—Social Security and Child Support (SSCS) does not use the term ‘response letter’ anywhere within its appeals process. Therefore, for the purpose of answering this question, it has been interpreted as relating to the number of administrative complaints received by HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) Administrative Support Centre (ASC). The ASC is responsible for administering SSCS appeals from people based in the Bassetlaw constituency.
	HMCTS operates a published administrative complaints process consisting of three stages, First Contact, Review Stage and Appeal Stage. Under the complaints process the office administering the case is responsible for investigating the initial complaint (First Contact) and then carrying out a review (Review Stage) if the customer remains dissatisfied. HMCTS target is to respond to First Contact and Review Stage complaints within 10 working days. Complaints escalated to the Appeal Stage are dealt with by a central team based at HMCTS' headquarters.
	The ASC dealt with 85.8% of First Contact complaints within 10 working days for the period April 2012 to January 2013, against the national HMCTS target of 90%. 71 replies were outside of the expected response time. The target achieved for Review Stage complaints was 66.7% within 10 working days, against the same target, resulting in 13 responses failing to meet the expected response time.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Arrest Warrants

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many arrest warrants remain outstanding in each police authority area;
	(2)  how many arrest warrants following a recall to custody remain outstanding in each police authority area;
	(3)  how many arrest warrants where the expectation is that the offender will be remanded in custody remain outstanding in each police authority area.

Damian Green: holding answer 28 February 2013
	The information requested is not held centrally.

Firearms: Licensing

David Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many semi-automatic weapons are under licence.

Damian Green: Semi-automatic weapons can be held on licence from the police or, if they are prohibited under section 5 of the Firearms Act 1968 (as amended), they can be held on an authority issued by the Secretary of State for the Home Department, my right hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May).
	There are 162,159 semi-automatic weapons listed on the national firearms licensing management system as held on licence from the police in England and Wales.
	The number of semi-automatic weapons held on an authority issued by the Secretary of State under section 5 of the Firearms Act 1968, for England and Wales, is not held centrally. Authorities are issued on the basis of the maximum number of weapons that may be held.

Firearms: Licensing

David Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many licences have been issued for semi-automatic .22 firearms in each of the last five years.

Damian Green: The number of certificates listed on the national firearms licensing management system for England and Wales, issued for semi-automatic .22 firearms in each of the last five years, is:
	4,820 certificates were issued for .22 semi-automatic firearms issued in 2008.
	5,297 certificates were issued for .22 semi-automatic firearms issued in 2009.
	13,487 certificates were issued for .22 semi-automatic firearms issued in 2010.
	13,523 certificates were issued for .22 semi-automatic firearms issued in 2011.
	13,238 certificates were issued for .22 semi-automatic firearms issued in 2012.
	These figures include pump-action firearms, and the certificates may relate to multiple weapon ownership.

Police Patrolling: Birmingham

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what information her Department holds on the average amount of time police officers in Birmingham spent on street patrols in the latest periods for which figures are available.

Damian Green: Based on an examination of time spent on patrol over the course of a two week period, officers in the West Midlands spent 16% of their time on patrol in 2007-08 (the last year for which data is available). The measure of patrol refers only to time when an officer is patrolling but engaged in no other duty. Activity, such as advice to a member of the public, carried out whilst on patrol is recorded separately. Therefore, it can be misleading to look at this element in isolation from other activities. Equivalent figures at individual town or city level are not held centrally by the Department.

Police: Dogs and Horses

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many Alsatian breed police dogs have been injured whilst on duty in each of the last five years;
	(2)  how many police sniffer dogs have been injured whilst on duty in the last three years;
	(3)  how many police horses have been put down in each of the last five years;
	(4)  how many police horses are currently on active duty;
	(5)  how many police horses have died whilst on duty in each of the last 10 years;
	(6)  how many police horses have died of unnatural causes in each of the last 10 years;
	(7)  how many police officers have received injuries whilst on duty from (a) police and (b) non-police dogs in the last three years.

Damian Green: The information requested is not collected centrally.

Social Networking: Arrests

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been arrested in relation to comments posted on social networking websites since 2011.

Damian Green: The information requested is not collected centrally.
	Data on arrests are reported to the Home Office on the basis of aggregated offence groupings, for example violence against the person. From these centrally reported groupings, it is not possible to separately identify arrests for specific offences.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Broadband

Alun Cairns: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent discussions (a) she and (b) officials from her Department have had with Ofcom on making 700MHz spectrum available for mobile communications.

Edward Vaizey: Following the publication by Ofcom of its ‘Securing long term benefits from scarce low frequency spectrum: UHF strategy statement’ on 16 November 2012, I have received informal briefings from Ofcom. My officials meet Ofcom regularly to discuss progress, in particular towards developing the UK's position in the preparations for the World Radiocommunication Conference 2015.

Broadband

Alun Cairns: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent discussions (a) she and (b) officials from her Department have had with Ofcom on the introduction of annual fees for 700MHz spectrum from the end of 2014.

Edward Vaizey: I have had no discussions with Ofcom about the introduction of annual licence fees for 700MHz spectrum from the end of 2014. The Government's position remains that all spectrum users should pay the appropriate fee to incentivise them to use spectrum efficiently, and this means that administered incentive pricing should be applied to spectrum used for broadcasting.

Broadband

Alun Cairns: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent discussions (a) she and (b) officials from her Department have had with Ofcom on revising the annual fees for 900MHz and 1800MHz spectrum.

Edward Vaizey: Neither I nor my officials have had any recent discussions with Ofcom on revising fees for 900MHz or 1800MHz spectrum. I expect Ofcom to comply with the Direction made in December 2010 to revise the fees after the 4G auction has completed. An exchange of letters between Vodafone and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) on this subject is available on the DCMS website.

Broadcasting

Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps she is taking to ensure that equality is promoted in the broadcasting industry.

Edward Vaizey: I refer the right hon. and learned Member for Camberwell and Peckham (Ms Harman) to the answer I gave her on 27 February 2013, Official Report, column 545W.

Cycling

Ben Bradshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 
	(1)  whether her Department is signed up to the Government's Cycle to Work scheme;
	(2)  who her Department's cycling champion is;
	(3)  what progress her Department has made on implementing the Cycle to Work guarantee.

Hugh Robertson: My Department has a Cycle to Work scheme in place. The scheme enables employees to hire out cycles and cyclists' equipment as a tax free benefit. My Department also has a Cycling Buddy scheme which is an informal network of staff who promotes the scheme, helps new and returning cyclists to get cycling, gain confidence and get support.

WOMEN AND EQUALITIES

Discrimination

Harriet Harman: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities what steps she plans to take to tackle discrimination on the grounds of age and sex.

Helen Grant: I refer the right hon. and learned Member to the answer I gave her on 27 February 2013, Official Report, column 528W.

CABINET OFFICE

Antibiotics

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office for what reason antibiotic resistance has been added to the National Risk Register of Civil Emergencies; and if he will make a statement.

Chloe Smith: The National Risk Register (NRR) is an annual assessment which informs decisions on how to prepare for civil emergencies. Antibiotic resistance does not fall into the definition of a civil emergency as defined by the Civil Contingencies Act 2004, and is not included in the NRR.
	Longer term risks and trends (for the next five to 20 years) which seriously threaten our National Security Interests are assessed by the National Security Risk Assessment (NSRA). This includes civil emergencies but also persistent disturbances events and trends that threaten the UK and its strategic assets abroad. Work is underway to update the NSRA and this will include analysing the extent to which antibiotic and antibacterial drug resistance will have an impact on UK national security interests.

Business: East of England

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what estimate he has made of the number of (a) small and (b) medium-sized businesses operating in (i) central Bedfordshire, (ii) Bedfordshire and (iii) the Eastern region in each of the last five years.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated February 2013
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking how many (a) small and (b) medium-sized businesses were operating in (i) Central Bedfordshire (ii) Bedfordshire (iii) the Eastern Region in each of the last five years.
	Annual statistics on the number of businesses (enterprises) are available from the ONS release – UK Business: Activity, Size and Location at:
	http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/bus-register/uk-business/index.html
	Data on the number of enterprises broken down by districts, counties and unitary authorities within region and country by employment size band can be found in table B1.2 of the publication.
	The following table contains the count of small and medium-sized businesses that were operating in Central Bedfordshire, Bedfordshire County and the Eastern region from 2008 to 2012. Small businesses have been defined as those with an employment between 0 and 49 and medium-sized businesses as those with an employment between 50 and 249.
	
		
			  2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 
			  Small Medium Small Medium Small Medium Small Medium Small Medium 
			 Central Bedfordshire 10,440 95 10,400 90 10,085 115 9,925 110 10,190 120 
			 Bedfordshire County 15,960 180 15,880 180 15,425 205 15,195 195 15,545 210 
			 Eastern region 214,925 3,080 214,000 3,095 209,650 3,145 206,895 3,140 212,455 3,285 
			 Notes: 1. The above table has been produced using annual extracts form the Inter Departmental Business register taken during March of each year. 2. Bedfordshire County ceased to exist from April 2009. The figures shown above from 2010 to 2012 are the sum of the districts that formerly made up the county i.e. Bedford and Central Bedfordshire. 3. Central Bedfordshire was created in April 2009. The data in the table above for 2008 and 2009 are the sum of the former districts of Mid Bedfordshire and South Bedfordshire. 4. Figures have been rounded to protect confidentiality. 5. These numbers do not include very small businesses, typically those below the threshold for VAT and PAYE.

Government Departments: ICT

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of the proportion of new Government IT expenditure that will be spent on cloud computing services in (a) 2013, (b) 2014 and (c) 2015;
	(2)  what his policy is on the expansion of G-Cloud services.

Nick Hurd: The Government's ICT strategy strategic implementation Plan (SIP) anticipated that by 2015, 50% of new central Government IT spend will be procured through the CloudStore.
	We will seek to deliver this by embarking on a “Public Cloud First” policy. This will apply first within central Government and then across the wider Public Sector, coupled with a progressive propagation strategy aimed at developing the capability of IT procurement professionals.

Honours

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many and what proportion of people who received an honour in (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12 and (c) 2012-13 to date are (i) black or minority ethnic, (ii) Chinese or British Chinese, (iii) Hindu and (iv) Muslim; and if he will make a statement.

Francis Maude: holding answer 25 February 2013
	The following table shows the information held on the numbers and proportion of honours awarded to people who declared their minority ethic origin between 2010 and 2012.
	
		
			  Successful BEM candidates Percentage of honours awarded to BEM candidates 
			 2010 132 6.8 
			 2011 142 7.3 
			 2012 136 6.4 
		
	
	We do not hold statistics on the religious belief of honours recipients. Statistics are not yet available for the new year's Honours List 2013.

Personal Income: Suffolk

Therese Coffey: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the average (a) personal and (b) household (i) gross and (ii) net income is in (A) Suffolk and (B) Suffolk Coastal constituency.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated February 2013
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the average (a) personal and (b) household (i) gross and (ii) net income is in (A) Suffolk and (B) Suffolk Coastal constituency (145652).
	Table 1 shows the average gross and net weekly household income for Suffolk and Suffolk Coastal constituency, for 2007/08, the latest year for which data is available at this geographic level. These figures are based on small area income estimates published by the ONS. The next set of estimates, for 2010/11 and reflecting data from the 2011 census will be published later this year.
	Personal gross and net incomes are unavailable from the small area income estimates.
	These estimates, as with any involving sample surveys, are subject to a margin of uncertainty.
	
		
			 Table 1: Average gross and net weekly household income in Suffolk and Suffolk Central parliamentary constituency, 2007/08(1,2) 
			 £ per week 
			  Mean gross(3 )household income (unequivalised) Mean net(4) household income (unequivalised) 
			 Suffolk 650 540 
			 Suffolk Coastal parliamentary constituency 660 530 
			 (1) Incomes are presented unequivalised for household size and before housing costs. (2) Figures are rounded to the nearest £10. (3) Gross income is the sum of the gross income of every member of the household plus any income from taxes and benefits. (4) Net income is gross income minus income tax payments, national insurance contributions, council tax, contributions to occupational pension schemes and some inter-household payments. Source: Office for National Statistics

Personal Income: Suffolk

Therese Coffey: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the average income per head was in (a) Suffolk and (b) Suffolk Coastal constituency in each month since May 2010.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated February 2013
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking what the average income per head was in (a) Suffolk and (b) Suffolk Coastal constituency in each month since May 2010. (145653).
	Estimates of average income per head are not available, but estimates of average earnings for employee jobs are. Average levels of weekly earnings are estimated from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), and are provided for all employees on adult rates of pay whose pay for the survey period was not affected by absence. The ASHE, earned out in April each year, is the most comprehensive source of earnings information in the United Kingdom. Estimates are not available on a monthly basis.
	The following table shows the median and mean gross weekly earnings for employee jobs in (a) Suffolk and (b) Suffolk Coastal constituency for April in each year from 2010 to 2012.
	
		
			 Median and mean gross weekly earnings (£)—for all employee jobs(1) in (a) Suffolk local authority and (b) Suffolk Coastal constituency for April in each year from 2010 to 2012 
			  2010(2) 2011(2) 2011(3) 2012(3) 
			  Median Mean Median Mean Median Mean Median Mean 
			 Suffolk(4) 362.5 419.9 364.6 417.3 358.6 412.1 357.5 411.2 
			 Suffolk Coastal(5) *455.7 486.6 *460.2 481.7 *460.0 479.6 *442.3 *479.0 
			 (1) Employees on adult rates whose pay for the survey pay-period was not affected by absence. (2) Results based on Standard Occupational Classification 2000. (3) Results based on Standard Occupational Classification 2010. (4) Local authority. (5) Parliamentary constituency. Guide to Quality: The Coefficient of Variation (CV) indicates the quality of a figure, the smaller the CV value the higher the quality. The true value is likely to lie within +/- twice the CV—for example, for an estimate of 200 with a CV of 5% we would expect the population total to be within the range 180-220. Key: CV =5% * CV >5% and =10% CV = Coefficient of Variation Source: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), Office for National Statistics.

Unemployment

Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what estimate he has made of (a) the number of unemployed young people and (b) the number of people working beyond pensionable age.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated February 2013
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking what estimate has been made of (a) the number of unemployed young people and (b) the number of people working beyond pensionable age. 144978
	Estimates of employment and unemployment are derived from the Labour Force Survey (LFS). For the three-month period October to December 2012 there were an estimated 974,000 people aged 16 to 24 in the UK who were unemployed. This estimate is seasonally adjusted and is published in the monthly Labour Market Statistical Bulletin. On a non-seasonally adjusted basis the estimate is 969,000.
	For the same period, there were an estimated 1,398,000 people in the UK who were in employment beyond pensionable age. This estimate is not available on a seasonally adjusted basis. It is derived using the estimated number of people in employment below the state pension age as published in a supplementary table to the Bulletin (Table A04), available via the following link:
	http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/lms/labour-market-statistics/february-2013/table-a04.xls
	The state pension age is the age at which people become eligible to claim the state pension in the UK. For women the state pension age is currently being increased incrementally to 65 in order to be equalised with that for men in 2018. On the LFS the identification of respondents' eligibility for the state pension is based on their age at the time of interview. During the survey period for October to December 2012 the state pension age for women varied between 61 and 3 months and 61 and 4 months.
	As with any sample survey, estimates from the LFS are subject to a margin of uncertainty. For the young people unemployed figure it is estimated that the true value is likely to lie within plus or minus 80,000. For the number of people working beyond state pension age it is estimated that the true value is likely to lie within plus or minus 90,000.

Wealth

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if he will assess the merits of using the Inclusive Wealth Index produced by the International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change in place of gross domestic product to measure prosperity.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated February 2013
	As Director-General for the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking whether the Chancellor of the Exchequer will assess the merits of using the Inclusive Wealth Index produced by the International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change in place of gross domestic product to measure prosperity
	The Inclusive Wealth Index (IWI) looks beyond the traditional economic and development estimates of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to include a full range of assets such as manufactured, human and natural capital, in an attempt to show the true state of a nation's wealth and the sustainability of its growth. The IWI captures the value of natural resources, which are being depleted by human activities such as deforestation, in evaluations of economic growth.
	GDP has been the main tool for many years for measuring a country's economic performance. However, it is often criticised that it is not a good measure of welfare and has limitations regarding what is included and excluded in its measurement. For example, many environmentalists argue that GDP is a poor measure of social progress because it does not take into account harm to the environment. However GDP is produced using an internationally agreed framework and standards.
	Two years ago, the ONS launched the Measuring National Well-being (MNW) programme. The aim is to ‘develop and publish an accepted and trusted set of National Statistics which help people understand and monitor well-being’. It recognises that traditional measures of progress such as GDP have long been an incomplete picture of the state of the nation and that other economic, social and environmental measures are needed alongside GDP to provide a complete picture of how society is doing.
	ONS has developed a framework for measuring national well-being following a six-month national debate. The framework consists of 10 areas or 'domains', including areas such as Health, Education and What we do; and 40 headline indicators of well-being, for example, the unemployment rate, satisfaction with our health, or levels of crime. These indicators and others have been used to describe life in the UK, under the headings, the Economy, People and the Environment.
	The MNW programme is a long term development programme. The development of the above framework and related indicators is aimed to supplement, not supplant, GDP. These developments are not proposing to replace GDP but to provide additional information to improve design, evaluation and monitoring of policies, through the use of well-being data. The programme promotes the use of both subjective and objective data and there are no current plans to produce a single, composite index.
	Additional information regarding the MNW programme, including details of the measures, a series of domain articles, interactive maps and charts, can be found at:
	http://www.ons.gov.uk/well-being

DEFENCE

Armed Forces: Redundancy

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what estimate his Department has made of the number of service personnel in the (a) Army, (b) Royal Navy and (c) Royal Air Force who will be made redundant within one year of their independent pension point in (i) 2012-13, (ii) 2013-14 and (iii) 2014-15;
	(2)  what the average compensation arrangement has been for armed forces personnel made redundant within one year of their independent pension point since May 2010.

Mark Francois: holding answer 20 December 2012
	The estimated numbers, as of 19 December 2012, of each service who will leave, under tranches 1 and 2, within one year of their immediate pension point in financial years (FY) 2012-13 and 2013-14, are detailed in the following table:
	
		
			 Service Applicant Non applicant 
			 FY2012-13   
			 Royal Navy 1 2 
			 Army 26 14 
			 Royal Air Force 17 7 
			    
			 FY 2013-14   
			 Royal Navy — 1 
			 Army — 29 
			 Royal Air Force — 14 
		
	
	Only around 1% of individuals who have been selected for redundancy are non-applicants who are within one year of qualifying for immediate pension. It is not yet possible to estimate how many, if any, of those selected for redundancy in tranche 3 will fall into this category, and the figures for FY 2013-14 may increase. No estimate can be given for FY 2014-15.
	As of 19 December 2012, the average tax free Compensation Lump Sum or Special Capital Payment paid for service personnel terminating from service with less than one year to serve to their immediate pension point is £73,383.

Armed Forces: Redundancy

Robert Buckland: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will take steps to ensure that no individual loses out as a consequence of (a) departing post-Immediate Pension Point (IPP) by using the Terminal Grant, maximum commutation and the redundancy special capital payment and (b) the sum obtained for service personnel departing prior to the IPP through their redundancy special capital payment and resettlement grant.

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the number of armed forces personnel being made redundant who will be worse off owing to ineligibility for the terminal grant, the resettlement commutation lump sum and the resettlement commutation annual abatement.

Mark Francois: The differing personal circumstances applicable to each individual leaving the armed forces, and the level of resettlement commutation that they apply for, have a significant bearing on the terms of that individual's redundancy.
	Individuals leaving before the Immediate Pension Point (IPP) will receive a tax free redundancy Special Capital Payment (SCP) equal to an eighth of annual pay for each year of completed service up to a maximum of 18 years, which equates to 27 months salary. An individual leaving on redundancy after the IPP will receive a tax free SCP equal to quarter of annual pay for each year of uncompleted service up to a maximum of three years; this equates to nine months salary.
	An individual leaving before the IPP will also be eligible for a resettlement grant provided they had served nine years or more, if an officer. If the individual leaves after the IPP they will receive a terminal grant of three times the annual rate of pension and in addition can choose to commute part of their pension to provide a further tax free lump sum.
	It is this combination of factors and the individual's decision regarding resettlement commutation that will determine whether the pre or post-IPP combination will produce a greater total lump sum. It is, therefore, impossible to make direct comparisons between those leaving pre- and post-IPP.

Armed Forces: Redundancy

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  pursuant to the answer of 19 November 2012, Official Report, column 226W, on armed forces: redundancy, if he will consider compensating army personnel who were close to the immediate pension point when they were made redundant for the loss of the pension they had been expecting to receive;
	(2)  what steps his Department has taken to assess the effect of compulsory redundancy on officers made redundant close to their immediate pension point;
	(3)  for what reasons proximity to pension point was not considered along with proximity to end of engagement date when armed forces personnel were selected for compulsory redundancy.

Mark Francois: holding answer 23 January 2013
	The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has aimed to ensure that the redundancy programme is as fair as possible to all involved, including commissioned ranks, as we move to reshape the armed forces. It is unfortunately inevitable that wherever a line is drawn, there will always be individuals who narrowly miss out.
	The decision to select individuals for redundancy is based upon an assessment against their performance, potential and wider employability in the future structure. The selection board do not know the exact length of service of an individual, nor the pension scheme to which they belong, hence it is not part of the criteria. Selection based on proximity to pension point, or end of engagement, would stand to compromise the future structure of the armed forces and it would lead to a less fair selection process.
	However, those personnel leaving before qualifying for their immediate pension will normally receive a larger redundancy compensation lump sum to reflect the loss of future annual income and will still receive a deferred pension at age 60 or 65, depending on the pension scheme to which they belong.

HMS Tireless

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what the cause was of the reactor coolant leak on board HMS Tireless; what the expected duration and cost is of repairs to that submarine; what steps have been taken to establish whether similar faults may occur on other Royal Navy submarines; what effect the loss of HMS Tireless from service will have on the UK's Tomahawk Land Attack Missile launch capability; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what investigations the Defence Nuclear Safety Regulator has made into the reactor coolant leak on board HMS Tireless; and if he will place a copy of the Regulator's report in the Library.

Philip Dunne: holding answer 28 February 2013
	The recent coolant leak onboard HMS Tireless was a very small quantity and was caused by a very small defect in a system within the sealed reactor compartment of the submarine. There was no risk to the public, environment or the crew. As repair plans are currently being developed, it is too early to confirm the duration or cost of such repairs. The impact of this defect on other submarines has been fully considered and, accordingly, it is not deemed necessary to carry out additional maintenance or inspections as a result.
	The Defence Nuclear Safety Regulator (DNSR) requires the Naval Reactor Plant Authorisee to investigate thoroughly incidents of this nature. Given this investigation, a further investigation by the DNSR is considered unnecessary in this instance.
	I cannot comment on Tomahawk Land Attack Missile launch capability as the disclosure of this information would, or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of our armed forces.

Nuclear Submarines

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  how much of the £35.8 billion announced on investment in submarines and nuclear deterrent programmes in The Defence Equipment Plan 2012 will be spent on (a) Astute class submarines, (b) design, development and production of replacement of Vanguard class submarines and (c) ongoing costs of managing and maintaining the strategic weapon system;
	(2)  how much of the £35.8 billion announced investment for replacement of Vanguard class submarines in The Defence Equipment Plan 2012 will be spent on (a) design, (b) development and (c) production;
	(3)  what the planned annual expenditure is on the design, development and production of the replacement for the Vanguard class for the next 10 years, assuming Main Gate approval;
	(4)  what proportion of funds allocated to (a) Support to New Equipment, (b) Support to In-Service Equipment, (c) Equipment Procurement (Core)—Uncommitted and (d) Equipment Procurement (Core)—Committed in The Defence Equipment Plan 2012 is allocated to any replacement for Vanguard submarines.

Philip Dunne: The breakdown of how much of the £35.8 billion announced in The Defence Equipment Plan 2012 is forecast to be spent on specific capabilities is as follows:
	The Astute class submarine programme: £5.4 billion
	Maintaining the Trident strategic weapons system: £12.7 billion
	The figures above are planning figures and cover the 10-year period from financial year 2012-13 to financial year 2021-22. The figures include spending allocated to the individual programmes. They do not include expenditure that is related to multiple programmes or forecast savings under the Submarine Enterprise Performance Programme).
	The Successor Submarine Programme has allocated a total of around £2.8 billion in The Defence Equipment Plan 2012 in the period up to Main Gate in 2016. This funding is held within the Core Equipment Procurement Programme from financial years 2012-13 to 2016-17, and represents around 9% of the total funding in those years, excluding centrally held contingency, within that programme. For forecast annual expenditure on the Successor Programme up to Main Gate in 2016, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the right hon. Member for Coventry North East (Mr Ainsworth) on 19 November 2012, Official Report, column 409W. I am withholding information on spending after Main Gate, as it would be likely to prejudice commercial interests and the development of Government policy.

HEALTH

Antibiotics

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the Food Standards Agency has any plans to collect centrally the Poultry Food Chain Information for the purpose of monitoring the level of farm antibiotic use.

Anna Soubry: We understand from the Food Standards Agency that it has no plans for the central collection of poultry food chain information (FCI) for the purpose of monitoring antibiotic use. FCI must accompany poultry when consigned to slaughterhouses as it is intended for the use of the food business operator at the slaughterhouse.

Antibiotics

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 7 February 2013, Official Report, column 374W, on antibiotics, what his policy is on the phasing out of the routine use of antibiotics on intensive farms; and for what reason this was not referred to in the answer.

Daniel Poulter: The Department is not in favour of the routine use of antibiotics in intensive farms and the Under-Secretary of State for Health, my hon. Friend the Member for Broxtowe (Anna Soubry), has written to the Minister of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the hon. Member for Somerton and Frome (Mr Heath), to reinforce this point.
	The answer of 7 February 2013, Official Report, column 374W, gave examples from the human health sector and the question referred to the national health service. However, the principles of sound infection prevention and control and of responsible prescribing apply equally to the veterinary sector. Routine use of antibiotics for preventative purposes in veterinary or human medicine is poor practice and contrary to Government policy, though ultimately, in all sectors, prescribing is a clinical decision.

Cancer

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what steps his Department is taking to ensure that cancer patients are able to access (a) written information about their illness and (b) a written assessment and care plan;
	(2)  what recent steps he has taken to ensure that NHS trusts improve the experience of cancer patients;
	(3)  what work his Department has done with stakeholders in the third sector to use the results of the 2011-12 National Cancer Patient Experience Survey to identify and share best practice in patient care and support service improvement activity.

Anna Soubry: We ran the Cancer Patient Experience Survey (CPES) in 2010 and 2011-12, and the 2012-13 survey is currently in the fieldwork phase. The national report and 160 bespoke trust level reports from the 2011-12 survey were published in August 2012. These have been made widely available to drive and inform local service improvement. The trust level reports provide benchmarked data nationally and between teams so that priority improvement areas can be identified. We are aware that a number of trusts have produced action plans based on the results of the surveys.
	In addition, all the quantitative data from the survey has been sent to the National Data Archive at Essex university and is freely available for access by researchers to undertake a series of analyses under the rules of the archive.
	We have encouraged stakeholders in the third sector to use the survey results to identify and share best practice in patient care and services to support service improvement activity. For example, Macmillan Cancer Support were given pre-publication access to analyse the 2011-12 survey data and published the 10 best and worst performing trusts in England in August 2012. Macmillan also produced ‘Improving Cancer Patient Experience—A top tips guide’, which can be found on the Macmillan website:
	www.macmillan.org.uk
	by typing 'top tips guide' into the search bar.
	Quality Health, the survey provider, has also undertaken further analysis of the 2011-12 survey data on: gynaecological cancers for Ovacome, Target Ovarian Cancer and Jo's Cervical Cancer Trust; pancreatic cancer for Pancreatic Cancer UK; and patients aged 16 to 24 for the Teenage Cancer Trust.
	The Department has also funded the National, Cancer Action Team (NCAT) to undertake a series of actions to improve the experience of cancer patients. This has included: developing a national advanced communication skills training programme; developing an assessment and feedback tool to promote better working between cancer teams in trusts; a quality improvement toolkit for nurses; and organising the national Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) Cancer Voice. The BME Voice aims to bring together black and minority ethnic cancer patients to share their experiences and identify where the national health service can deliver more culturally appropriate cancer services.
	Providing accurate, tailored, timely and accessible information is key to improving patient experience. To ensure that all cancer patients are able to access written information about their illness, NCAT has been working in partnership with Macmillan Cancer Support and Cancer Research UK to support the use of information prescriptions (IPs). IPs can: help patients to understand their diagnosis and treatment; provide signposts to further sources of advice and support, such as local patient groups and self-management programmes; and provide information on access benefits and social care services. Since 2010, the team has offered support to 1,500 multi-disciplinary cancer teams in 110 acute trusts across England.
	Through the National Cancer Survivorship Initiative (NCSI) we are working to ensure that all cancer patients can access a written assessment and care plan. The NCSI Assessment and Care Planning workstream has looked at how best to ensure that survivors' needs are identified and plans put in place to meet them from an early stage. Having a needs assessment during and at the end of treatment helps to identify issues and allows a personalised care plan to be developed in partnership with the cancer survivor.
	The care plan is 'owned by' the cancer survivor and can cover a range of topics such as planned surveillance and follow-up care; the symptoms of possible reoccurrence and consequences of treatment; signposting to support groups and local services; lifestyle advice around diet and exercise; psychological support; and work and finance concerns.
	Over the past two years, the NSCI and NHS Improvement have been piloting the Assessment and Care Planning process, as well as other survivorship models of care, across a number of sites in England. The evidence gathered has informed the NCSI's recommendations for commissioning cancer services to support the care, advice and information needs of people living with and beyond cancer. These recommendations will be set out in the NCSI publication, ‘Living with and beyond cancer: Taking action to improve outcomes’, which will be published shortly.

Cancer

David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to improve recording of ethnicity in NHS data collection on cancer.

Anna Soubry: Good progress has been made in improving the coding and recording of ethnicity within the Hospital Episode Statistics (HES). The National Cancer Equality Initiative (NCEI) report ‘Reducing cancer inequality: evidence/ progress and making it happen’ stated that as at 2010, 88% of in-patients whose records had been linked to cancer registration data had at least one record of their ethnicity in HES. Working with the NCEI, the National Cancer Intelligence Network (NC1N) now routinely links ethnicity data to the national cancer data and has used this information in a range of analyses and reports including ‘Mortality from Prostate Cancer’ and ‘Treatment Routes in Prostate cancer’. These reports were published in 2012 and can be found alongside other publications on the NCIN website at:
	www.ncin.org.uk

Disability: Children

Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was spent per patient on (a) direct healthcare and (b) associated needs including special facilities and carer's costs for disabled children in (i) Trafford and (ii) England in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Daniel Poulter: Information on the costs of health and associated care for disabled children in England is not collected centrally.
	However, the care and outcomes of disabled children is a priority for this Government.
	The commissioning of services for children with special educational needs, which will cover many children with a disability, will be greatly enhanced by the proposals in the Children and Families Bill, introduced this month. The Bill places a duty on local authorities and clinical commissioning groups from 2014 to commission services jointly, to meet the needs of young people with special educational needs, through a single assessment process. This will bring together professionals and commissioners to identify education, health and care needs for the child or young person (up to age 25) and inform an individual Education, Health and Care Plan focusing on the outcomes and the integrated services to deliver them.
	The Children and Young People's Health Outcomes Forum of experts and stakeholders is considering the indicators and intelligence needed to support children with long-term conditions and disability, to inform effective commissioning, and monitor children as they move through the system and life.

Doctors: Foreign Workers

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many foreign doctors were employed by the NHS in each of the last three years for which figures are available.

Daniel Poulter: The number of foreign doctors employed by the national health service in each of the last three years is not collected centrally.
	The annual work force census published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIS) collects the number of doctors by country of qualification, broken down as those who qualified within the United Kingdom, within the remainder of the European economic area and outside the European economic area. The next annual census will be published on 21 March 2013 and provides data as at 30 September 2012.
	The number of doctors who qualified within the remainder of the European economic area and outside the European economic area in each of the last three years is shown in the following table:
	
		
			 All doctors(1) working in England who qualified outside the UK, 2009-11 
			 Number(2) (headcount) and full-time equivalents 
			  2009 2010 2011 
			 England at 30 September each year HC FTE HC FTE HC FTE 
			 All doctors(1)       
			 Total 136,555 129,383 137,318 129,808 139,830 131,628 
			 Of which:       
			 Qualified outside the UK 43,758 42,508 43,503 42,244 43,800 42,355 
			 Unknown country of qualification(3) 115 109 1,994 1,917 1,493 1,366 
			        
			 Of which:       
			 General practitioners       
			 Total 40,269 36,085 39,409 35,243 39,780 35,319 
			 Of which:       
			 Qualified outside the UK 9,183 8,380 9,126 8,484 9,275 8,573 
			 Unknown country of qualification(3) 115 109 38 38 67 61 
			        
			 HCHS doctors(1)       
			 Total 96,286 93,298 97,909 94,566 100,050 96,310 
			 Of which:       
			 Qualified outside of the UK 34,575 34,128 34,377 33,760 34,525 33,782 
			 Unknown country of qualification(3) — — 1,956 1,879 1,426 1,305 
			 ‘ —’ denotes zero Nationality is not available on the work force census. The figures here show doctors who received their primary medical qualification outside the UK, but this does not necessarily denote nationality. (1) Excludes medical Hospital Practitioners and medical Clinical Assistants, most of whom are GPs working part-time in hospitals (2) The new headcount methodology is not fully comparable with data for years prior to 2010, due to improvements that make it a more stringent count of absolute staff numbers. Further information on the headcount methodology is available in the census publication. Headcount totals are unlikely to equal the sum of components. www.ic.nhs.uk/searchcatalogue?productid=4876&topics=3%2fWorkforce%2fStaff+numbers%2fMedical+and+dental+staff&sort=Relevance&size=10&page=1#top (3) Country of qualification is not known for these doctors. Country of qualification information is derived by linking census data to General Medical Council (GMC) information using the doctors GMC numbers, where this linkage cannot be fulfilled we state country of qualification as unknown. Note: Data excludes all dental staff. Information about country of qualification is derived from the GMC. For staff in dental specialties, holding only a General Dental Council registration, the country of qualification is therefore not known. GP data includes GP Providers, GP Others, GP Registrars and GP Retainers Data Quality: The Health and Social Care Information Centre seeks to minimise inaccuracies and the effect of missing and invalid data but responsibility for data accuracy lies with the organisations providing the data. Methods are continually being updated to improve data quality. Where changes impact on figures already published, this is assessed but unless it is significant at national level figures are not changed. Impact at detailed or local level is footnoted in relevant analyses. Source: HSCIC Medical and Dental Workforce Census and HSCIC GP Workforce Census

Fertility

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many fertility treatments for foreign students on the NHS were registered in each of the last five years

Anna Soubry: The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) advises that it collects data such as the country of birth of patients receiving fertility treatment, but not their occupation. Therefore, this would not enable the HFEA to identify a patient as a foreign student.

Food: Fraud

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the capacity and resourcing of the Food Standards Agency to deal with food fraud.

Anna Soubry: The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has dedicated resources to tackle food fraud. It gathers and exchanges intelligence, working collaboratively with other Government Departments, police forces (including internationally), local authorities and research bodies.
	A range of anti-fraud support measures have been established by the FSA to co-ordinate and support the front-line food fraud investigation and enforcement activities carried out by local authority Trading Standards and Environmental Health services, including a central database of fraud related intelligence.
	The FSA Food Fraud Advisory Unit and a team of legal investigators are available to advise enforcement officers carrying out investigations into fraud or any illegal activity relating to food or animal feed. A Food Fraud Fighting Fund provides financial support to local authorities engaged in resource intensive fraud cases, particularly with those of national or international importance. The FSA also assists in the training of fraud investigation officers by running a cost-free Evidence Gathering and Investigation Skills Training course.

General Practitioners: Cambridge

Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate of the population of Cambridge was used to calculate the 2013-14 revenue budget for the Clinical Commissioning Group; and how it compares to the 2011 census figure for the population of Cambridge.

Daniel Poulter: On 17 December 2012 the NHS Commissioning Board announced a uniform 2.3% uplift would be applied to the resource allocations of all clinical commissioning groups from the 2012-13 baseline. This does not rely on any particular estimate of the population.

Health Services: Greater London

Heidi Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 7 February 2013, Official Report, column 377W, on NHS Trusts, what assessment his Department has made of lessons to be learned from the application of the trust special administrator regime in South London; and what changes to the trust special administrator process his Department plans to make as a result.

Anna Soubry: Discussions are ongoing about how lessons to be learned from the first application of the trust special administrator's (TSA) regime can be used to support any further use of the regime for an NHS trust. However, the timeframe for this regime and its specified stages, and also specified requirements for a TSA and the Secretary of State for Health, remain underpinned by primary legislation.

Heart Diseases: Babies

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what tests are carried out by the NHS to detect congenital heart conditions in babies.

Daniel Poulter: As part of the national health service Fetal Anomaly Screening Programme all pregnant women in England are offered a minimum of two ultrasound scans. The first is an early scan, undertaken after eight weeks gestation, the second ultrasound scan is undertaken between 18 weeks + 0 days to 20 weeks + six days of pregnancy. The main purpose of this scan is to look for abnormalities in the unborn baby, including serious cardiac abnormalities.
	The national health service Newborn and Infant Physical Examination Screening Programme offers parents, the opportunity to have their child examined shortly after birth. The examination includes a general physical check as well as examination of the baby's eyes, heart, hips and testes. As some conditions can develop later, the examination is repeated at six to eight weeks of age usually by a general practitioner.

Horse Meat

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which catering companies and meat processors have told the NHS supply chain they are concerned about horsemeat in their products.

Daniel Poulter: NHS Supply Chain has undertaken a review of the traceability; and DNA testing of its supply of meat and meat products to the national health service. All suppliers have been able to provide test evidence in support of assurances that their products are free from horsemeat.
	NHS Supply Chain has been working closely with the Food Standards Agency (FSA) in correlating their responses and test results.
	One of NHS Supply Chain's supplier's, Brakes Brothers, has notified NHS Supply Chain of concerns they have over bespoke products they have supplied to other customers, however they have provided full details and assurances that these products have not been supplied to NHS Supply Chain customers.
	Sodexho has reported via the FSA, a positive result for horse meat. Tillery Valley Foods who are a subsidiary of Sodexho and are on the NHS Supply Chain framework have provided the necessary assurances and test results to demonstrate that their supply chain has tested negative for horse meat.

In Vitro Fertilisation

Paul Uppal: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what steps he is taking to ensure that health commissioners are aware of the benefits of providing up to three full cycles of IVF treatment to eligible couples;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the potential benefits of introducing a national set of eligibility criteria for IVF treatment.

Anna Soubry: The level of provision of health services, including infertility treatment, is a matter for the local commissioners and will be determined by clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) in the future when considering the needs of all their population. They will be held to account by the NHS Commissioning Board, who have issued a factsheet to CCGs setting out the expectations around implementing the revised National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence Guidelines.
	We have also funded Infertility Network UK, the leading infertility patient support group, to produce a tool for commissioners in England aimed at standardising eligibility criteria and work with primary care trusts to promote greater understanding of the effect that infertility can have on people's lives and the impact that treatment can make.

Meat

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the sourcing of meat by manufacturers of baby food; and if he will make a statement.

Anna Soubry: The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is carrying out a co-ordinated plan for sampling and testing the authenticity of meat products labelled as containing beef, across a range of food products on the market, including baby foods. The FSA is not aware of any baby foods as having tested positive for horse meat.

Medical Equipment

Karen Lumley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he has any plans to provide additional funding for CPR equipment across public places in the UK.

Anna Soubry: The Department has no such plans. From February 2007, responsibility for sustaining the legacy of the National Defibrillator Programme was devolved to national health service ambulance trusts. Ambulance trusts install automatic external defibrillators where they are most needed.

Medical Records

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent discussions he has had with charities supporting domestic violence survivors on online access to medical records; and if he will put safeguards in place to prevent the abuse of online access to medical records.

Anna Soubry: No recent discussions have been held by the Secretary of State for Health, my right hon. Friend the Member for South West Surrey (Mr Hunt), with charities supporting domestic violence survivors on online access to medical records though this is recognised as a key issue.
	Protecting personal health information is vital to maintaining trust between patients and the staff caring for them. But what is vital for high quality care is that people's health information is able to flow around the health and care system as appropriate. The national health service does have robust processes in place to protect people's confidential information. In addition, Dame Fiona Caldicott is leading an independent review to see how best to balance the need to keep patient information secure with the need to share it among health and care professionals for legitimate reasons. The review will be reporting later in 2013.
	The Department has been working with the British Computer Society to provide user-tested guidance for patients on how to protect their information when they access their medical records. The guidance, “Keeping Your Online Health and Social Care Records Safe and Secure” was published on 25 February 2013 and a copy has been placed in the Library.

Medical Records

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what measures are in place to prevent Atos Healthcare gaining access via the General Practice Extraction Service to the NHS records of individuals undertaking the work capability assessment to determine their eligibility for employment and support allowance;
	(2)  what safeguards he has put in place to protect patient confidentiality as part of his Department's contract with Atos Healthcare for the General Practice Extraction Service.

Anna Soubry: The Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) hold a contract with Atos in connection with the General Practice Extraction Service (GPES).
	We understand from HSCIC that the contract for work capability assessment for the Department for Work and Pensions is held with Atos Healthcare. GPES and the work capability assessment programme are wholly separate and not linked in any way. Atos staff do not have access to any patient information that is extracted by GPES, unless authorised by the HSCIC.
	Protecting patient confidentiality has always been central to GPES. The service has been designed with stringent access controls in place in order to ensure that no unauthorised access is granted. Extractions of data must follow the guidance set out in the GPES Information Governance Principles, which state that requests for data will be initially reviewed and refined by the HSCIC so that only the minimum necessary data are extracted and passed to customers.
	The request must then be considered by an Independent Advisory Group (IAG), which includes members of the public and general practice representatives. The IAG has an advisory role and makes recommendations to the HSCIC, which is responsible for formally approving requests.
	GPES will not begin to extract any data from general practitioner systems until June 2013. Copies of the GPES security policy will be published in advance of this date.

Medical Treatments

Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to the NHS report, Creating change: Innovation health and wealth one year on, published in December 2012, what estimate he has made of the number of patients that will benefit each year from the Oesophageal Doppler monitoring uptake programme.

Anna Soubry: “Innovation Health and Wealth” sets out that from April 2013, compliance with six high impact innovations, including oesophageal doppler monitoring, or similar fluid management monitoring technology, will become a pre-qualification requirement for Commissioning for Quality and Innovation.
	The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence's costing template and report, which accompanies its medical technologies guidance on the CardioQ-ODM oesophageal doppler monitor, states that adoption of intra-operative fluid management across the NHS in England could benefit 10% of all surgical patients. Using figures for 2009-10 this equates to 837,145 people per year. The costing template and report are available at:
	http://guidance.nice.org.uk/MTG3/CostingTemplate/xls/English

Medical Treatments

Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the cost of implementing oesophageal doppler monitoring and other fluid management monitoring technologies.

Anna Soubry: A costing report has have been produced by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence to provide an estimate of the financial impact to the national health service of implementing the MTG3 CardioQ-ODM (Oesophageal Doppler Monitor). The costing tool also allows NHS trusts to input their own populations and it provides an indication of the cost. The report is available at:
	http://guidance.nice.org.uk/MTG3/CostingTemplate/xls/English

Medical Treatments

Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of potential savings for the NHS through implementing oesophageal doppler monitoring and other fluid management monitoring technologies.

Anna Soubry: “Innovation Health and Wealth” sets out that from April 2013, compliance with six high impact innovations, including oesophageal doppler monitoring, or similar fluid management monitoring technology, will become a pre-qualification requirement for Commissioning for Quality and Innovation.
	The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence costing template and report, which accompanies its medical technologies guidance on the CardioQ-ODM oesophageal doppler monitor, estimates the net savings to the national health service in England through implementing its guidance to be £413 million per annum. The costing template and report are available at:
	http://guidance.nice.org.uk/MTG3/CostingTemplate/xls/English

Medical Treatments

Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to encourage NHS trusts and commissioners to engage with the national uptake programme for (a) Oesophageal Doppler monitoring and (b) other fluid management monitoring technologies.

Anna Soubry: “Innovation Health and Wealth” sets out that from April 2013, compliance with six high impact innovations, including CardioQ Oesophageal Doppler Monitoring (ODM) or similar intra-operative fluid management monitoring technology, will become a pre-qualification requirement for Commissioning for Quality and Innovation (CQUIN). This means that providers will need to meet agreed implementation goals for these innovations by March 2013 in order to qualify for CQUIN payments.
	A comprehensive technology adoption pack has been produced by the NHS Technology Adoption Centre (NTAC) on behalf of the Department and is available at:
	www.ntac.nhs.uk/web/FILES/Intra_Operative_Fluid_Management/IOFM_Adoption_pack_final_140612.pdf

Members: Correspondence

Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he plans to respond to the letters from the hon. Member for Chesterfield of 22 November 2012 and 7 February 2013 on behalf of a constituent, Mrs Gladys Simpson.

Daniel Poulter: I replied to the hon. Member's letter of 22 November 2012 on 18 December 2012 and the hon. Member's letter of 7 February 2013 on 27 February 2013.

NHS Property Services

Ian Mearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  by what means local accountability will be exercised over NHS Property Services; and whether health scrutiny committees will routinely receive regular reports on its operation;
	(2)  (a) how many staff will be employed and (b) what total value of assets will be held by NHS Property Services in Gateshead.

Daniel Poulter: It will be for local health economies and their clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to hold NHS Property Services Ltd (NHS PS) to account locally and to take decisions as to what properties and related services are provided and where they are located. It will be for NHS PS to work with the local national health service and its commissioners in deciding the need for primary or community care premises and other buildings from which NHS services are provided. If a need for premises is identified by local CCGs, it will be for NHS PS to respond and offer the necessary site or building.
	In respect of whether NHS PS will have to report on a regular basis to Local Scrutiny Committees, health organisations must seek review by the local authority where proposals result in a service change. New regulations on local authority health scrutiny have been drawn up to ensure that any changes to local health care are more transparent, and overseen and considered locally. However, these regulations will only apply where health organisations are proposing to change health services and will not apply where the local health economy is considering changes to its estate that do not materially effect the delivery of services.
	With regard to staffing, NHS PS will consist nationally of a small board of directors, with most of its staff being at a regional and local level. It has four regional directors, with teams that will work closely with the new NHS structure, with the majority of staff being locally-based and delivering services to patients, NHS staff and the public.
	The precise number of staff to be employed by NHS PS, locally and nationally, is not yet known. However, it is anticipated that some 3,000 staff working in estates and facilities roles in primary care trusts (PCTs) and strategic health authorities will transfer under TUPE (Transfer of Undertaking Protection of Employment) legislation to the company. Staff will transfer on 1 April 2013. The Company is recruiting to a further 72 posts to fulfil corporate roles such as in finance, information technology and human resources. This type of support has been provided to local estates teams by the PCTs that they are currently part of.
	Similarly, work is ongoing with regard to the assets to be held by NHS PS, but current analysis has shown that nationally:
	General practitioner surgeries will account for 30% of the assets;
	Support services (e.g. administration and equipment storage)—24%;
	Hospitals and land—2% each; and
	Health centres—19%.

NHS: Disclosure of Information

Andrew Bridgen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health for what reasons NHS Trust chief executives who have left their positions since 2005 were issued with suppression orders.

Daniel Poulter: This information is not held centrally.
	The Department does approve the business cases for any extra contractual severance payments proposed by national health service organisations other than foundation trusts. However, it does not have sight of the compromise agreements under which the payments are being proposed and therefore does not routinely monitor the use of confidentiality clauses or the reasons for their use.
	The Department does not support the use of confidentiality clauses or “suppression orders” within either a compromise agreement or contracts of employment that seek to prevent a member of staff from raising concerns in the public interest and that are covered by the Public Interest Disclosure Act.
	We encourage anyone who has signed a compromise agreement that includes a confidentiality clause, but who has concerns about patient safety, to seek advice and support from the whistleblowers helpline.

NHS: Disclosure of Information

Margot James: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS (a) managers and (b) doctors left NHS employment subject to non-disclosure agreements in each year since 2005.

Daniel Poulter: This information is not held centrally.
	The Department does not support the use of confidentiality or “non-disclosure” clauses within either a compromise agreement or contracts of employment that seek to prevent a member of staff from raising concerns in the public interest and that are covered by the Public Interest Disclosure Act.
	We encourage anyone who has signed a compromise agreement that includes a confidentiality clause, but who has concerns about patient safety, to seek advice and support from the whistleblowers helpline.

NHS: Finance

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what definition his Department applies to the word value as it relates to plans for the introduction of value-based pricing; what criteria his Department will use for the introduction of value-based pricing; and if he will make a statement.

Norman Lamb: Currently, pharmaceutical companies set prices for new branded medicines within the framework of the 2009 Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme. Through value-based pricing, we want to enable a closer link between a medicine's price and its value to patients and society. Value-based pricing will build on the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence's existing technology appraisals processes for assessing the clinical and cost-effectiveness of new technologies, but will be capable of incorporating a broader assessment of a medicine's value, taking into account factors such as burden of illness and wider societal benefits.

NHS: Redundancy Pay

Margot James: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much NHS trusts spent on employee severance packages in each year from 2005-06 to 2011-12.

Daniel Poulter: Information on severance packages actually spent by national health service trusts is not held centrally. However, the following table sets out the extra contractual severance payments proposed by NHS Trusts and approved by HM Treasury since 2008-09.
	
		
			 Severance payments proposed by NHS Trusts and approved by HM Treasury since 2008-09 
			  Total value of approved payments to NHS Trusts (£) 
			 2008-09 3,349,052 
			 2009-10 1,281,294 
			 2010-11 281,673 
			 2011-12 537,267 
			 2012-13 as 27 February 2013 65,939 
			 Notes: 1. NHS bodies must obtain HM Treasury's explicit permission before making any staff severance payments that exceed legal or contractual obligations. The table shows the total value of those approved financial settlements for NHS trusts. 2. The table does not include the actual payments, as this information is not held by the Department. The final actual payments made can be lower than the approved amount or, not made at all. 3. The Department does not hold the requested information prior to 2008-09. 4. The Department does not hold this information for foundation trusts. Source: Validated data sent from HM Treasury and held by the Department

Nutrition

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment his Department has made of the healthy-eating programme Eat Like A Champ; and what steps it has taken to support that programme and its aims.

Anna Soubry: The Department has made no formal assessment of Danone's Eat Like A Champ programme, though is aware of the programme, its content and Danone's commitment to making it available to more primary schools.
	We know that the food skills and knowledge, which the programme includes, are important building blocks in helping children to develop healthier food behaviours. The programme complements continuing activity through the Change4Life campaign, of which Danone, is a commercial partner.

Organs: Donors

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people living in (a) Brigg and Goole constituency and (b) Yorkshire and the Humber have received organ donations in each of the last five years.

Anna Soubry: The information requested is in the following tables.
	
		
			 Number of organ transplants by organ in the Brigg and Goole Constituency from 2008-09 to 2012-13 
			 Organ 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13(1) 
			 Kidney (deceased) 1 1 2 3 0 
			 Kidney (live) 0 1 0 2 1 
			 Kidney/pancreas 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Pancreas 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Pancreas islets 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Heart 0 0 0 1 0 
			 Lung(s) 1 0 2 0 0 
			 Heart/lung 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Liver (deceased) 0 1 0 0 0 
			 Liver (live) 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Other multi organ 0 0 0 0 0 
		
	
	
		
			 Total Organs 2 3 4 6 1 
			 Cornea 2 6 11 4 4 
			 Sclera 0 0 0 0 1 
			 Total 4 9 15 10 6 
		
	
	
		
			 Number of organ transplants by organ in Yorkshire and the Humber from 2008-09 to 2012-13 
			 Organ 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13(1) 
			 Kidney (deceased) 156 110 145 168 151 
			 Kidney (live) 61 68 62 63 64 
			 Kidney/pancreas 8 5 6 10 7 
			 Pancreas 2 0 3 0 0 
			 Pancreas islets 0 0 1 2 0 
			 Heart 11 15 10 6 8 
			 Lung(s) 15 13 15 9 6 
			 Heart/lung 0 0 0 1 0 
			 Liver (deceased) 45 49 56 53 45 
			 Liver (live) 2 1 3 3 3 
			 Other Multi Organ 5 3 0 3 0 
			 Total Organs 305 264 301 318 284 
		
	
	
		
			 Cornea 345 407 365 417 356 
			 Sclera 12 16 9 4 12 
			 Total 662 687 675 739 652 
			 (1) 2012-13 includes figures from the start of the 2012-13 financial year until 26 February 2013. Source: NHS Blood and Transplant

Out-patients: Attendance

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of hospital appointments have been missed in (a) Brigg and Goole constituency and (b) Yorkshire and the Humber in each of the last five years; and what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of such missed appointments.

Anna Soubry: The percentage of missed out-patient appointments for Brigg and Goole parliamentary constituency and Yorkshire and the Humber strategic health authority (SHA) for 2007-08 to 2011-12 are shown in the following table.
	No estimate has been made centrally of the cost to the national health service of missed out-patient appointments.
	
		
			  Brigg and Goole constituency Yorkshire and Humber SHA residence 
			  Did not attend Total appointments Percentage missed Did not attend Total appointments Percentage missed 
			 2007-08 n/a n/a n/a 477,534 6,511,557 7.3 
			 2008-09 n/a n/a n/a 492,839 7,048,695 7.0 
			 2009-10 7,013 106,419 6.6 519,363 7,624,167 6.8 
			 2010-11 7,982 108,264 7.4 539,686 8,140,684 6.8 
			 2011-12 7,816 110,036 7.1 631,780 8,550,378 7.4 
			 Notes: 1. Information regarding parliamentary constituency is only available from 2009-10 onwards. 2. The appointment count is the number of planned/booked appointments for out-patients. The HES database contains one row per appointment that was made, whether it was attended or not. Appointments may be missed (did not attend), cancelled or attended. It should be noted that not all providers submit information about missed appointments and so data around 'did not attends' should be interpreted with caution. 3. The SHA or primary care trust (PCT) of residence is that containing the patient's normal home address. This does not necessarily reflect where the patient was treated as they may have travelled to another SHA/PCT for treatment. A change in methodology in 2011-12 resulted in an increase in the number of records where the PCT or SHA of residence was unknown. From 2006-07 to 2010-11 the current PCT and SHA of residence fields were populated from the recorded patient postcode. In order to improve data completeness, if the postcode was unknown the PCT, SHA and country of residence were populated from the PCT/SHA value supplied by the provider. From April 2011-12 onwards if the patient postcode is unknown the PCT, SHA and country of residence are listed as unknown. 4. HES out-patients figures are available from 2003-04 onwards. Changes to the figures over time need to be interpreted in the context of improvements in data quality and coverage (particularly in earlier years), improvements in coverage of independent sector activity (particularly from 2006-07) and changes in NHS practice. For example, changes in activity may be due to changes in the provision of care. 5. HES are compiled from data sent by more than 300 NHS trusts and PCTs in England and from some independent sector organisations for activity commissioned by the English NHS. The NHS Information Centre for health and social care liaises closely with these organisations to encourage submission of complete and valid data and seeks to minimise inaccuracies. While this brings about improvement over time, some shortcomings remain. 6. Activity included is from English NHS Hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector. Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre

Prescriptions: Fees and Charges

Linda Riordan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether monies raised from prescription charges are ring-fenced for NHS expenditure.

Anna Soubry: In England, charges paid by national health service patients for prescriptions are retained by dispensing organisations, which include hospitals, community pharmacies, dispensing general practitioners and appliance contractors. When prescriptions are dispensed in settings other than hospitals the retained charge is then offset against the payment made from primary care trust budgets to the dispensing organisation (administered by the NHS Business Services Authority). Therefore, while not technically ring-fenced, the income raised from prescription charges is administered in a way that means that it remains within the NHS.

Prostate Cancer

David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what plans his Department has to raise awareness of prostate cancer amongst (a) all men and (b) black African-Caribbean men;
	(2)  what plans his Department has to raise awareness of the incidence of prostate cancer in black African-Caribbean men among (a) clinical commissioning groups, (b) general practitioners and (c) local authorities;
	(3)  what steps his Department plans to take to improve outcomes for black African-Caribbean men with prostate cancer.

Anna Soubry: Prostate cancer awareness activity is currently managed through the Prostate Cancer Risk Management Programme (PCRMP). Since 2002, the PCRMP has been in place to ensure that men over 50 without symptoms of prostate cancer can have a prostate specific antigen (PSA) test free on the national health service after careful consideration of the advantages and disadvantages of PSA testing and after a discussion with a general practitioner (GP). The patient information sheets on PSA testing in the PCRMP packs make it clear that the risk of prostate cancer is greater for men with a familial history of prostate cancer and black-African and black-Caribbean men.
	To ensure that GPs remain aware of the programme and its objectives, the Department's Prostate Cancer Advisory Group developed ‘Five Key Points Every GP Should Know About Prostate Cancer in 2011’. The five key points were published on the website of the Prostate Action charity in December 2011, with a link from NHS Choices.. The key points were also published in Prostate Action's newsletter, which went out to 4,000 GPs.
	In 2011, the Department, the National Cancer Action Team and Prostate Cancer UK worked with NHS Newham and Barts Health Care Trust to pilot the Newham Prostate Health Drop-in Clinic at the Newham African-Caribbean Resource Centre. The clinic won the ‘Helping people live longer award’ at the Quality in Care Programme Excellence in Oncology Awards 2012.
	A formal evaluation of the clinic undertaken by researchers at King's College London concluded that further community-based prostate clinics could be introduced and evaluated to determine service models and locations, to reach men reluctant to use traditional primary care services. The learning gained from the pilot is being shared widely with stakeholders within London and across England.
	Cancer indicators in the NHS Outcomes Framework and the Public Health Outcomes Framework will help us to assess progress in improving cancer survival and mortality for everyone, including black African-Caribbean men with prostate cancer.

Prostate Cancer

David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made on the development of prostate cancer treatment guidelines and quality standards; and what consideration will be given to the incidence of prostate cancer in black African-Caribbean men in those guidelines and standards.

Anna Soubry: We have asked the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) to develop a Quality Standard on prostate cancer, as part of a library of approximately 180 NHS Quality Standards. NICE is preparing this Quality Standard alongside an update of its existing clinical guideline on prostate cancer, which was published in 2008.
	The detail of the guideline and Quality Standard will be a matter for NICE in consultation with relevant stakeholders to ensure that these define what high quality care should look like for all men with prostate cancer, including black Afro-Caribbean men.
	NICE currently expects to complete the update of its prostate cancer guideline in late 2013 with the Quality Standard being published shortly after.

Radioactive Waste: Fife

Gordon Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he will receive a report from the Health Protection Agency on the incidence of radioactive substances and their effect on residents in Dalgety Bay, Fife.

Anna Soubry: The Department has not requested a report from the Health Protection Agency on the incidence of radioactive substances and their effect on residents in Dalgety Bay, Fife. However, the Department is aware that the Scottish Government has requested such a report from the Committee on the Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment but the Department is not aware of the time scales for this report.

School Milk

Gordon Henderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how much was claimed by the UK in EU subsidies provided for nursery milk in each year since 2005;
	(2)  how much the UK is entitled to claim annually in European Union subsidies provided for nursery milk.

Daniel Poulter: The European Union school milk subsidy may be claimed for the actual quantity supplied to pupils up to a maximum of 250ml per pupil per day in nurseries. Whilst there is no specific limit to the total annual amount of EU subsidy that may be claimed, it may be paid only to approved claimants who operate and make claims in compliance, with ail the EU School Milk scheme requirements.
	Prior to 2008 the Department of Health could not claim the EU milk subsidy for nursery milk. In 2008 when the EU rules were extended to cover early years settings, the Department submitted EU milk subsidy claims on behalf of childcare providers claiming under the Nursery Milk scheme (a United Kingdom wide scheme). From October 2008 to April 2010, the Department claimed a total of £2,641,271.08 on childcare settings behalf. However some childcare settings were found to be non-compliant and therefore the department was asked to return this money. No further claims were made after this date because the EU raised concerns that as the department cannot guarantee that the childcare settings will be complying with the EU milk subsidy claim requirements, it should not make claims on their behalf.
	Northern Ireland runs a separate Nursery Milk scheme. We are unable to provide information on the level, of EU subsidy claimed for the nursery milk in Northern Ireland since 2005.

Smoking

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much his Department spent on its smoke-free homes and cars campaign in spring 2012.

Anna Soubry: The Department spent £2.3 million on advertising for the Smokefree Homes and Cars campaign in spring 2012.
	This is departmental advertising spend only. Advertising spend is defined as covering only media spend (inclusive of agency commissions but excluding production costs and VAT). All figures are rounded to the nearest £10,000. Figures provided are provisional.

Speech Therapy: Children

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the implications for child welfare of the withdrawal of speech therapy support for children with autism aged six years old or over by Nottingham North and East Clinical Commissioning Group; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  if he will make an assessment of the conformity of the policy of Nottingham North and East Clinical Commissioning Group on the provision of speech therapy for children with autism aged six years old or over with national guidelines; and if he will make a statement.

Anna Soubry: We have made no such assessment. Clinical commissioning groups must commission health services to meet the reasonable requirements of the persons for whom it has responsibility (unless the NHS Commissioning Board is under a duty to do so). Local clinicians are best placed to make decisions on how to address local health needs, including the provision of speech and language therapy.

Tuberculosis

Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what consideration he has given to developing a strategy to tackle rising rates of tuberculosis.

Anna Soubry: The Department recognises the public health importance of tuberculosis (TB). The national health service and public health system reforms will provide opportunities for more integrated commissioning and provision of services driven by health and well-being boards, in partnership with clinical commissioning groups, the NHS Commissioning Board, Public Health England and service providers.
	We are currently exploring the effectiveness of a cross-health sector approach for a national strategy for TB, which will ensure the level of consistency needed in delivering TB services based on local need.

Vitamin B12

Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the NHS's efficacy in detecting and properly treating those suffering from a vitamin B12 deficiency.

Norman Lamb: All general practitioners (GPs) should be familiar with the signs and symptoms of anaemia and with the methods for diagnosing and treating its common causes, including vitamin B12 deficiency. Guidance is available from sources commonly consulted by GPs, including ‘Clinical Knowledge Summaries and Patient.Co.UK’.

BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND SKILLS

Arms Trade: Madagascar

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment his Department made of the suitability of Madagascar as a market for arms export.

Michael Fallon: All export licence applications for the export of arms to Madagascar are assessed on a case by case basis against the Consolidated European Union and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria depending on the end-use and circumstances prevailing at the time of application.
	Respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms are mandatory considerations for all export licence applications. The Government will not issue licences where there is a clear risk that the equipment might be used for internal repression.

Construction: Yorkshire and the Humber

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the economic value of the construction sector in (a) Brigg and Goole constituency and (b) Yorkshire and the Humber.

Michael Fallon: Region level is the lowest level for which figures are available.
	Construction output in Yorkshire and the Humber fell by 7.1% in Q3 2012 compared with the same quarter a year earlier.(1)
	In 2011, orders for new construction work in Yorkshire and the Humber amounted to £3.1 billion. Latest figures show that in the first half of 2012, new orders totalled £2.4 billion.(2)
	(1) Source—ONS Output in The Construction Industry December 2012, non-seasonally adjusted, current prices.
	(2) Source—ONS New Orders in The Construction Industry 2012Q2, Additional Half-Yearly Tables.

Credit: Interest Rates

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many pay day loan companies operated in the UK (a) in each constituency and (b) on the internet in each of the last 30 years.

Jo Swinson: Government does not keep any data on the number of payday loan companies operating in the UK (a) in each constituency and (b) on the internet in each of the last 30 years and is not aware of any such data.
	The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) set out in the interim report of their ongoing compliance review of payday lenders, published on the 20 November 2012, that they were aware of around 240 payday lenders. Some of these lenders operate exclusively online and, of the remainder, I expect that some will be sole traders and some will be multiple traders. It is also worth noting that online payday lending was only facilitated by the Consumer Credit Act 1974 (Electronic Communications) Order 2004, which permits consumer credit contracts to be signed online.
	We are of course concerned about evidence that consumers are experiencing problems with payday lending across constituency boundaries and online. Government is therefore taking coordinated action to tackle detriment in this market, including working with industry to ensure the effective implementation of the voluntary codes of practice agreed last year and the OFT's compliance review which is due to publish its final report shortly. We are also strengthening OFT enforcement powers with a new power to suspend a business' credit licence with immediate effect, or on a date specified by the OFT. This will be used by the OFT where considers it is urgently necessary in order to protect the interests of consumers and prevent serious actual or potential consumer detriment. This power came into effect last month.
	Further, we have announced our intention to transfer the regulation of consumer credit from the OFT to the new Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in 2014 subject to the design of a proportionate regime. The FCA will have a diverse range of regulatory powers to address problems across all consumer credit markets, including being able to ban products or specific product features, levy fines and determine consumer redress.
	The Government is currently considering whether other action may be needed in the high cost credit sector, including payday lending. In coming to a conclusion, we will be informed by the evidence gathered by the University of Bristol's Personal Finance Research Centre who have been undertaking an in-depth study into the likely effects of capping the cost of credit. This report is due to be published shortly.

Employment Schemes

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many young unemployed people his Department has taken on through the Youth Contract.

Jo Swinson: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has taken on four young apprentices in the last 12 months as part of the Youth Contract.
	We are about to embark on developing a programme of work experience for young people under the Youth Contract, in consultation with Job Centre Plus.

EU Grants and Loans

Margaret Curran: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the allocation of EU structural funds to (a) England, (b) Scotland, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland as a result of the agreement reached by the European Council on the Multi-Annual Financial Framework for 2014 to 2020.

Michael Fallon: The Government will be in a position to decide on allocations of EU Structural Funds within the UK only after there is a final agreement between the European Parliament and member states on the EU budget for 2014-20 and following further discussions with the devolved Administrations.

EU Grants and Loans

Margaret Curran: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what discussions he has had with the Scottish Government on the allocation of EU structural funds.

Michael Fallon: An initial conversation has taken place between myself, UK Minister responsible for Structural Funds, and Nicola Sturgeon, Deputy First Minister for Scotland, on the outcome of the recent EU budget agreement by Heads of State and Government. The Government will be in a position to decide on allocations of EU Structural Funds within the UK only after there is a final agreement between the European Parliament on the EU budget for 2014-20 and member states and following further discussion with the devolved Administrations.

Food

Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will consider bringing forward proposals to extend the remit of the Regulated Industries Unit to include (a) consumer interests in tackling obesity and (b) the food industry.

Jo Swinson: From April 2014 the Regulated Industries Unit (RIU) will focus on consumer issues and advocacy in the regulated gas, electricity and postal services markets, plus water in Scotland. The unit will also consider cross-cutting issues across other regulated markets and feed into other consumer bodies and regulators as appropriate.
	Responsibility for consumer advocacy in other areas, including food, will be the responsibility of the Citizens Advice service, who will be able to investigate areas of concern on behalf of consumers.
	We expect the RIU to transfer to the Citizens Advice service in 2014, giving them the responsibility and resources to act as the consumer advocate across the whole range of consumer issues. We do not expect to explicitly include these areas in the unit's remit.

Graduates: Unemployment

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the rate of graduate unemployment was in each of the last 30 years.

David Willetts: Information on employment outcomes six months after graduation is published by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) as part of the higher education performance indicators. Statistics are available for the academic years 2002/03 to 2010/11 and are based on information collected via the Destination of Leavers from Higher Education (DLHE) survey.
	Statistics on the percentage of full-time first degree graduates from UK higher education institutions who were in employment or further study six months after graduating from their course are provided in the table. Graduate destinations surveys existed prior to the DLHE survey, but it is not possible to provide employment rates from these, except at disproportionate cost.
	
		
			 Full-time first degree graduates in employment or further study six months after graduating UK Higher Education Institutions—Academic years 2002/03 to 2010/11 
			 Academic year Percentage in employment and/or further study 
			 2002/03 92.5 
			 2003/04 93.1 
			 2004/05 93.0 
			 2005/06 93.2 
			 2006/07 93.8 
		
	
	
		
			 2007/08 91.0 
			 2008/09 89.9 
			 2009/10 90.4 
			 2010/11 90.3 
			 Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) 
		
	
	More details on the higher education performance indicators can be found at the following link:
	http://www.hesa.ac.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2071&ltemid=141
	The Office for National Statistics (ONS) also publishes statistics on graduate employment rates in its statistical bulletin ‘Graduates in the Labour Market’. Estimates included in the bulletin are based on data collected by the Labour Force survey (LFS). The latest bulletin, published in March 2012, gives the employment and unemployment rates of recent graduates (those graduating in the last six years), and time series are included as far back as Q2 1992. The bulletin, including links to the underpinning data, is available at the following link:
	http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171776_259049.pdf

Internet

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills for what reasons information regarding Ministers' meetings with external organisations on the data.gov.uk website is not available for the last two quarters of 2012; and when such information will be made available.

Jo Swinson: I can confirm that details of the Department's Ministers' meetings with external organisations for the quarter July-September 2012 are all now signposted on data.gov.uk. Detail of Ministers' meetings with external organisations for the period October-December 2012 is now being collated across all Government Departments and will be published as soon as possible.

Members: Correspondence

John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills when he intends to respond to the letters from the hon. Member for Basildon and Billericay of 16 October 2012 and 20 December 2012, and the email from the same source of 23 January 2013 regarding Councillor Phil Turner.

David Willetts: My hon. Friend wrote in similar terms to the Chancellor of the Exchequer and a reply addressing the matters raised was sent to my hon. Friend.
	A reply explaining the handling of the correspondence sent to this Department will be sent to my hon. Friend shortly.

Members: Correspondence

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills when he plans to respond to the letters of 5 December 2012 and 12 February 2013 from the hon. Member for Harrow West regarding Mr Dhirenda Vadera.

Jo Swinson: The letter of 5 December was not received by this Department. A reply to the letter of 12 February was sent on the 28 February.

Merseyside

John Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how much and what the breakdown is of money which has been (a) committed to and (b) spent by his Department in the Merseyside region in (i) 2010, (ii) 2011, (iii) 2012 and (iv) 2013 to date.

Jo Swinson: The Department has not collated or published details of funding that has been committed or spent at a sub-regional level and unfortunately the information requested can be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Ministerial Policy Advisers

Ian Mearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what procedures are in place within his Department to deal with breaches of the code of conduct for special advisers.

Jo Swinson: Matters relating to special advisers are handled in accordance with the Ministerial Code, the Model Contract and Code of Conduct for Special Advisers.

New Businesses

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many staff from his Department have been allocated to the Start-up Spaces scheme and its delivery; and how many staff hours have been worked by such staff since the inception of the scheme.

Michael Fallon: Officials from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and Government Property Unit have worked together with other Departments on this Initiative.
	BIS has contributed 1.5 full-time equivalent staff to this initiative; we have not collated information on the number hours worked as some of this work has been integrated into the day to day activities of the staff involved in the project and cannot be disaggregated except at disproportionate cost.

New Businesses

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills by what date he expects the first premises to be available under the Start-up Spaces scheme.

Michael Fallon: We expect the first start-up space to be available before the end of March. The department that controls this space is finalising legal agreements with the bidder who will run and manage this space on its behalf. In parallel some small scale works are taking place to make the space ready for occupation.

New Businesses

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the total cost has been of the Start-up Spaces scheme since its inception.

Michael Fallon: Officials from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and Government Property Unit are working together with other Departments on this Initiative.
	Across a number of grades BIS and GPU have each contributed 1.5 full-time equivalent staff to this initiative. A figure for the total cost of the pilot phase of this scheme has not been collated. The work done by individual departments on individual spaces has been integrated into the day to day activities of estates teams: It is not possible to disaggregate these costs except at disproportionate cost.

New Businesses

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many premises are under active consideration under the Start-up Spaces scheme; if he will list the location of each such premises; when he expects assessment of such premises to be complete and such premises to be made available to firms under the scheme; and what deadlines his Department has set for such assessments.

Michael Fallon: Officials from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and Government Property Unit (GPU) are working together with other Departments on this initiative.
	Contract negotiations are taking place between Departments and preferred bidders to agree and finalise contracts and prepare the first of four pilot spaces for start-ups. We anticipate our first space will open to businesses before the end of March with more space becoming available later in the year.
	Issues such as locations and the date by which firms will be able to access premises under the scheme are dependent on the mutually satisfactory conclusion of negotiations and work to prepare the spaces. The work continues to be commercially sensitive and I can not provide more detailed information at this stage.
	In the meantime the GPU continue to review government's portfolio of buildings to identify suitable space which can be set aside for start-ups.

New Businesses: Young People

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many (a) initial enquiries and (b) expressions of interest from potential applicants have been received who have not gone on to make an application for a start-up loan to date under the Start-up Loans scheme since its inception.

Michael Fallon: I refer the hon. Member to my reply of 28 February 2013, Official Report, column 636-8W. We do not hold data on applicants who have approached a delivery partner directly and not gone on to make a loan application.

Parental Leave

Jim Sheridan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills when he plans to bring forward proposals for flexible parental leave.

Jo Swinson: The legislative measures on shared parental leave are being brought forward in the Children and Families Bill. The Bill was introduced on the 4 February 2013 and successfully passed second reading on the 25 February 2013.
	Alongside this I published the consultation on the detailed administration of shared parental leave on the 25 February 2013. This consultation will run until the 17 May 2013 and we will be seeking views from a broad range of stakeholders to inform how shared parental leave will work in practice.
	It remains our intention to introduce shared parental leave in 2015, in line with the coalition agreement commitment.

Paternity Leave

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 2 July 2012, Official Report, column 504W, on paternity leave, how many fathers and partners have taken additional paternity leave since its commencement in 2011.

Jo Swinson: In the financial year 2011/12, which is the only year we currently have figures for, 1,650 people claimed additional statutory paternity pay for a total of £1.16 million. We have no figures on the number of people taking additional paternity leave, because employers are not required to notify Government when individuals take leave.

Post Offices: Photographs

Dan Byles: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what plans his Department has to ensure that post offices that do not have Cogent digital camera equipment installed for the renewal of driving licences do not lose the check-and-send business they have previously had.

Jo Swinson: Under the new contract with DVLA the digital photographic service will be available in 753 post office branches replacing the photocard licence check and send service offered in 749 post office branches. These arrangements do not affect the motor vehicle licensing service available in some 4,600 branches or the passport check and send service available in around 2,500 branches.

Post Offices: Photographs

Dan Byles: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of installing Cogent digital camera equipment in post offices.

Jo Swinson: The decision to install Cogent digital camera equipment in post offices was a commercial and operational matter for Post Office Ltd, in conjunction with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA).

Postgraduate Education

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what proportion of domestic postgraduate students are from black and ethnic minority backgrounds in (a) 2010-11 and (b) 2011-12.

David Willetts: The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) collects and publishes data on student enrolments at UK higher education institutions (HEIs). Information on the number of UK domiciled postgraduate enrolments by ethnicity at UK HEIs for the academic years 2010/11 and 2011/12 is provided in the table.
	Information for the 2012/13 academic year will become available from the Higher Education Statistics Agency in January 2014.
	
		
			 UK domiciled(1) postgraduate enrolments(2) by ethnic background—UK higher education institutions. Academic years 2010/11 and 2011/12 
			 Ethnicity 2010/11 2011/12 
			 White 294,265 280,390 
			 Black 18,765 19,115 
			 Asian 26,625 26,130 
			 Chinese 4,340 4,340 
			 Mixed 4,525 4,780 
			 Total known 356,835 343,325 
			 Total black and ethnic minority 62,570 62,935 
			 Proportion black and ethnic minority (percentage) 17.5 18.3 
			 Not known 18,195 15,475 
			 Total 375,030 358,800 
			 (1 )This field of the HESA Student Record records the country of the student's permanent or home address prior to entry to the course. (2) Covers students in all years of study. Note: Figures are based on a HESA standard registration population and have been rounded to the nearest five, so components may not sum to totals. Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) Student Record.

Science: Females

Jim Sheridan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps he is taking to encourage women into science and engineering professions.

David Willetts: I have asked the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Royal Society to lead a diversity programme for the STEM community. This UK-wide programme aims to identify and tackle the barriers faced by women and all minority groups as well as those who are economically disadvantaged.
	As part of the BIS funded diversity programme the Royal Academy of Engineering has commissioned the Women's Engineering Society to deliver a piece of research on ‘The Voice of Women Engineering Students’. The research will give unique contemporary insights into the thoughts and aspirations of 1,200 women engineering students and include specific reflections on ethnicity and socio-economic background. This research will be presented as part of the programme of activities which the Royal Academy of Engineering is running for International Women's Day on 8 March 2013.
	Many of this Department's other STEM partners are contributing directly to the equality and diversity agenda. A broad mix of STEM activities and wider societal programmes are funded from the science and research budget and these have a major impact on diversity in the UK STEM work force.
	Our work on the STEM pipeline has strands which seek to encourage more girls to study science at school and university, through the UK-wide STEM Ambassadors programme. STEMNET actively seeks to ensure that the profile of the Ambassadors they recruit adequately represent the local community in which the Ambassadors volunteer. At present, around 40% of the 25,000 STEM Ambassadors are women.
	Within the Royal Society fellowship schemes, the Dorothy Hodgkin Fellowships is specifically aimed at UK researchers who require a flexible working pattern and women are particularly encouraged to apply.

Student Finance England

Mark Spencer: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills when he plans to commission the next Independent Health Check Review of Student Finance England.

David Willetts: I do not consider it necessary at this time to commission an Independent Health Check of the Student Loans Company's (SLC's) Student Finance England (SFE) service. Following the service delivery problems in 2009, the Department commissioned an Independent Health Check to consider SLC's preparedness to deliver the academic year (AY) 2010/11 student finance application cycle. SLC's performance has since shown marked improvement with three consecutive student finance application cycles delivered successfully.
	The Government is committed to ensuring that students and their families get the student finance service they rightly expect. I regularly meet the SLC Chair and Chief Executive to review SLC's overall performance and discuss how the Department can better support its efforts to improve the student finance service. Officials work with the SLC to review performance throughout the year and monitor the student support application cycle closely.
	I am satisfied with the level of assurance that this oversight provides.

Students: Debts

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the average level of student debt was in each of the last 30 years; and what estimate he has made of future levels of student debt over the next ten years.

David Willetts: The average debt accumulated by Income Contingent repayment borrowers as they enter repayment in the April after they leave their courses is shown in the table. These figures come from table 3(iii) of the Official Statistics: Income Contingent repayments by repayment cohort and tax year 2000/01 to 2010/11 inclusive (provisional) available on the Student Loans Company (SLC) website at:
	http://www.slc.co.uk/media/333186/slcosp022012.pdf
	
		
			 Average amount owed by Income Contingent Repayment student loan borrowers with outstanding debt as they entered repayment, 2000 to2012: English domiciled students studying in higher education in the UK and EU students studying in HE in England 
			 Repayment cohort(1) Average amount of debt outstanding of students who had just entered repayment (£) 
			 2000(2) 2,690 
			 2001 4,140 
			 2002 6,990 
			 2003 8,220 
			 2004 8,850 
			 2005 9,350 
			 2006 9,670 
			 2007 10,050 
			 2008 10,870 
			 2009 11,770 
			 2010(3) 14,680 
			 2011 16,170 
		
	
	
		
			 2012 17,140 
			 (1) Borrowers are grouped into repayment cohorts based on the year in which their liability to repay began; this means for example that students who graduated in 2010 are included in the repayment cohort 2011. (2) The 2000 repayment cohort is atypical as it represents a higher proportion of borrowers who withdrew from their course and or who were on one year course of study. (3) The uplift in figures for 2010 reflects the first significant group of borrowers who came into repayment who were subject to variable tuition fees and the availability of tuition fee loans. These were mainly entrants in 2006/07 on three year courses. 
		
	
	The latest forecast of the average debt for English students and EU students studying in England due to start making repayments in April 2013 is £17,500, to the nearest £500. This figure is subject to change due to interest being added, early repayments being made and borrowers who are currently counted in later repayment cohorts withdrawing from their courses before April 2013.
	Student loans issued to students who entered higher education in academic year 1998/99 onwards were issued under the Income Contingent Repayment (ICR) scheme.
	Student loans are dissimilar to other debt in that they do not need to be repaid until the student has completed their studies, and is earning above the repayment threshold (currently £15,795 and rising to £16,365 in April 2013). Monthly repayments are income contingent and will be suspended where income falls below the relevant repayment threshold. Loans will be cancelled if the borrower dies or receives a disability related benefit and because of the disability is permanently unfit for work.
	They will be cancelled on age grounds—at age 65 years for pre-2006/07 entrants; or after 25 years for new entrants between 2006/07 and 2011/12.
	It is not possible to provide data for the older mortgage style loans issued between 1990 and 1999, except at disproportionate cost.

Students: Per Capita Costs

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how much was spent per student by the (a) Government and (b) student on university education in each of the last 30 years; and what estimate he has made of future trends in such expenditure in each of the next 10 years.

David Willetts: The average spending by Government per higher education student is published routinely as it is one of the Department's performance indicators. Estimates of the spending per student in the financial years 2007-08 to 2011-
	12 were published in October 2012 and are available at the following link. Figures for earlier years can be found in the annual reports of our former Departments.
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/82952/Funding_per_student_in_higher_education.pdf
	Students have made a contribution towards the cost of their higher education via tuition fees, which were introduced for new students in the 1998/99 academic year. Tuition fee arrangements for full-time students since 1998/99 are set out in the following table:
	
		
			 Academic year Maximum tuition fee charged to new entrants (£) Student support available towards fees 
			 1998/99 1,000 (1)— 
			 1999/2000 1,025 (1)— 
			 2000/01 1,050 (1)— 
			 2001/02 1,075 (1)— 
			 2002/03 1,100 (1)— 
			 2003/04 1,125 (1)— 
			 2004/05 1,150 (1)— 
			 2005/06 1,175 (1)— 
			 2006/07 3,000 (2)— 
			 2007/08 3,070 (2)— 
			 2008/09 3,145 (2)— 
			 2009/10 3,225 (2)— 
			 2010/11 3,290 (2)— 
			 2011/12 3,375 (2)— 
			 2012/13 9,000 (2)— 
			 2013/14 9,000 (2)— 
			 (1) Tuition fees had to be paid upfront, though means-tested fee grants were available to students from lower income households (2) Tuition fee loan available 
		
	
	Further information on the anticipated balance of contributions between Government and students is included in the Higher Education Council for England's (HEFCE) annual grant letter. The latest grant letter, referring to the financial year 2013-14 is published at the following link:
	http://www.hefce.ac.uk/news/newsarchive/2013/name,76313,en.html

Tax Avoidance

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what legislative proposals he intends to introduce to increase the transparency of the payments made by UK-based companies to the governments of developing countries; and if he will make a statement.

Jo Swinson: I am committed to increased transparency of payments made by UK companies to governments. This includes requiring large companies in the extractives and forestry sectors incorporated anywhere in the EU or listed on a recognised EU exchange to disclose the payments they make to governments. These reporting requirements will be implemented in the UK through secondary legislation.

World War II: Medals

Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills with reference to the answer of 3 February 2011, Official Report, column 938, on World War Two, what progress he has made in recognising the contribution of World War Two munitions workers; and if he will meet the APPG on the Recognition of Munitions Workers on this matter.

Michael Fallon: I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 21 November 2012, Official Report, columns 483-84W.
	I am grateful for his work along with the chairman (the hon. Member for Ogmore (Huw Irranca-Davies)) and other members of the APPG on the Recognition of Munitions Workers group. I would be pleased to meet to discuss the group's progress and have asked my office to contact the hon. Member to make arrangements.

EDUCATION

Children: Day Care

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what estimate he has made of the level of provision of formal childcare during school holidays in each of the last three years.

Elizabeth Truss: holding 27 February 2013
	The Department's Childcare and Early Years Provider survey is the main source of information on this topic. Table 1 provides estimates of the number of holiday clubs in England in 2011, 2010 and 2009. The survey was not conducted in 2012.
	
		
			 Table 1: Number of holiday clubs in England 2011, 2010 and 2009 
			  Holiday clubs 
			 2011 7900 
			 2010 7700 
			 2009 6400 
			 Notes: Changes to the way in which Ofsted classifies providers, and changes to the available data sources, meant that the 2010 survey had to employ a different sampling method to that which had been used previously. The changes that were made in 2010 may potentially have affected trends between 2010 and the earlier waves of the survey. Comparisons should take this into account. Source: Childcare and Early Years Providers Survey 2011

Children: Day Care

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what estimate he has made of the average cost to each household of childcare in each of the last 30 years.

Elizabeth Truss: The Department conducts two child care surveys (one of parents and one of child care providers) that indicate how child care costs have changed in recent years. However, official statistics on child care costs do not go further back than the mid-2000s.
	The Childcare and Early Years Providers Survey gives data on the fees that providers charge parents. It contains information on the average fees charged to parents for different types of childcare. The following table shows how average hourly fees have changed since data collection began in 2006.
	
		
			 Average hourly fee 
			 £ 
			  2006 2007 2008 2010 
			 Full day care 2.70 3.20 3.50 3.70 
			 Full day care in children's centres 2.50 3.00 3.30 4.10 
			 Childminders 3.20 3.60 3.60 3.80 
			 Sessional 1.90 2.30 2.30 3.00 
			 After school club 2.30 2.60 n/a n/a 
			 Holiday club 1.70 2.20 n/a n/a 
			 n/a = Not available Source: Childcare and Early Years Providers Survey 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2010 
		
	
	In 2010, for all types of child care, average hourly fees were lower in the 30% most deprived areas than they were in the 70% least deprived areas. Average hourly fees were highest in London, followed by the South East and East of England.
	The DFE Childcare and Early Years Survey of Parents provides information on the weekly and hourly average payment for childcare as reported by parents. These figures relate to the average total amount paid by parents for the child care they use and therefore do not take account of the number of hours of child care used, the number of different providers that parents use, or the ages of children provided for. The following table shows the mean weekly child care payment made by parents since 2007.
	
		
			 £ 
			  2007 2008 2010 2011 
			 Average weekly payment for child care 54 50 48 47 
			 Source: Childcare and Early Years Survey of Parents 2004, 2007, 2008, 2010, and 2011 
		
	
	The following table shows for 2011 the average weekly payment made by parents using different types of child care.
	
		
			 Average weekly payment for child care in 2011 
			  £ 
			 All provider types 47 
			 Nursery School 74 
			 Nursery class attached to primary/infants school 24 
			 Day nursery 109 
			 Playgroup or pre-school 26 
			 Childminders 76 
			 Nanny or au pair 176 
			 Babysitter who cam to home 35 
			 Breakfast club 15 
			 After school club 19

Children's Centres

Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether he has plans to collect information on the number of people who have used Sure Start children's centres (a) in England and (b) by parliamentary constituency.

Elizabeth Truss: holding answer 27 February 2013
	The Department has no plans to collect information on the number of people who have used Sure Start Children's Centres. It is for local authorities to be satisfied that they have sufficient children's centres to meet local need.

Children's Centres

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many Sure Start children's centres are in operation in (a) Yorkshire and (b) England.

Elizabeth Truss: Information supplied by local authorities on the Sure Start-On Database shows that on 31 January 2013 there were 3,209 Sure Start Children's Centres in England. Of these, 361 are located in the Yorkshire and Humber region.

Correspondence

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many official letters were received by his Department in 2012; and how many such letters were answered late.

Elizabeth Truss: holding answer 7 February 2013
	In 2012, the Department for Education received 70,386 items of correspondence. The Whitehall target to reply to correspondence is 20 working days. The Department operates a more stringent target of responding to correspondence within 15 working days. The following table shows the Department's performance in meeting that target.
	
		
			 Treat official and ministerial correspondence 1 January 2012 to 31 December 2012 
			  Total 
			 Number of letters received 70,386 
			 Number of letters where replies required 51,734 
			 Number of replies (where reply required) within departmental target 44,295 (86%) 
		
	
	If using the Whitehall target of 20 working days for the same period, the Department would reply within target with 51734 final replies issued—47850 (92%) within 20 days.

Free Schools: Cumbria

Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many schools have applied for free-school status in (a) Copeland constituency and (b) West Cumbria in the last 12 months.

Elizabeth Truss: holding answer 25 February 2013
	No applications for free schools have been received from Copeland or West Cumbria in the last 12 months.

GCSE

Andrew Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many and what proportion of pupils in alternative provision and pupil referral units achieved (a) A* to C grades in GCSE English, (b) A* to C grades in GCSE mathematics and (c) A* to C grades in English and mathematics by (i) local authority, (ii) ward, (iii) alternative provision setting, (iv) ethnicity, (v) sex, (vi) whether the child was in care, (vii) eligibility for free school meals and (viii) whether the child had a statement of special educational needs.

Elizabeth Truss: holding answer 11 February 2013
	The Statistical First Release ‘GCSE and Equivalent Results in England, 2011/12’ contains statistics relating to the KS4 achievements of pupils in alternative provision, including pupil referral units; and can be found using the following link:
	http://www.education.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s001109/index.shtml
	Information by local authority is not available for the subjects listed above. However, you may find the two tables contained within the link above (Table P1 and P2) useful.
	Table P1 provides a breakdown by local authority of the percentage of pupils in alternative provision at the end of key stage 4 achieving 5+ A*-C including English and mathematics GCSEs.
	Table P2 provides national GCSE full course results of pupils at the end of key stage 4 in alternative provision including pupil referral units, by subject and grade.
	It is not possible to provide the information requested at ward level without incurring disproportionate costs. This is due to the time it would take to produce statistics for the indicators requested and the amount of suppression required in order to protect pupils' identity when providing statistics for lower level geographies.
	Attainment data by characteristics and by alternative provision setting is not available for pupils in alternative provision including and pupil referral units. The time taken to match the data and quality assure the statistics would incur disproportionate costs.

Home Education

Nicholas Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what measures are taken by local authorities to assess the quality of home schooling.

Elizabeth Truss: Parents are responsible for ensuring that their children receive a suitable education. Parents and local authorities should recognise each other's rights and responsibilities, and work together. Local authorities have no statutory duties in relation to monitoring the quality of home education on a routine basis, and the Department does not collect information on local practice. An authority which is satisfied that a child of compulsory school age is not receiving suitable full-time education must serve a school attendance order on the child's parents.

Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education when the Personal, Social and Health Education draft programme of study will be announced.

Elizabeth Truss: The internal review of Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education was extended to take account of the outcomes of the wider National Curriculum Review.
	The National Curriculum programmes of study have recently been released for consultation and we will announce the outcomes of the PSHE Review in due course.

Reading: Teaching Methods

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  how much funding the year one phonics screening check received from his Department;
	(2)  how many meetings he had with teaching unions about the introduction of the year one phonics screening check before its introduction;
	(3)  what assessment his Department has made on the effectiveness of the year one phonics screening check.

Elizabeth Truss: The costs of developing and piloting the phonics screening check in 2011 were £300,000. The independent evaluation of the pilot cost an additional £75,000. Delivering the national rollout of the phonics screening check in June 2012 cost £600,000. We have committed a further £280,000 for a three year, independent evaluation of the national rollout.
	Ministers and officials have consulted with teacher unions, notably NAHT, on many occasions during the design and implementation of the check, including at Education Forum meetings where the phonics check is raised regularly.
	The check was piloted with 300 schools in 2011, and an independent evaluation was carried out by Sheffield Hallam university. Following national rollout in 2012, the Department has commissioned NFER to evaluate the check over a period of three years. NFER will be looking at the administration of the check, and its effect on the teaching of phonics and wider literacy in schools.

Schools: Immigration

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether his Department has set aside any funding for any increase in school pupil numbers as a result of inward migration from Romania and Bulgaria.

David Laws: holding answer 27 February 2013
	The Department for Education does not hold back any capital funding for school places. To date, in the current spending review period, we have allocated £2.7 billion to local authorities in order to support them in providing additional pupil places. This funding is allocated using data on the forecast demand for places provided by local authorities, who will factor in a range of demographic considerations to their forecasts, including inward migration. We will announce future allocations shortly.
	Over the whole spending review period we will spend more than £5 billion on school places—compared to only £1.9 billion in the previous spending review period (2007-11).

Schools: Transport

Ian Mearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what guidance his Department provides to (a) free schools, (b) academies, (c) comprehensives, (d) local authorities and (e) bus operators on the provision of school transport for 17 and 18 year olds.

David Laws: The responsibility for post-16 transport support lies with local authorities. The authorities have a legal duty to set out in a transport statement the arrangements they consider necessary to enable young people to attend post-16 education. The Department provides statutory guidance to local authorities on how they should fulfil this duty. The guidance explains that local authorities are required to consider local circumstances and the needs of students in their area when developing their policies and to consult education and training providers among others. It is available at:
	http://tinyurl.com/acn5cxt
	The Department does not provide guidance to bus operators but Ministers and officials at the Department for Transport are liaising with the industry to encourage it to improve concessionary fare deals for young people.

Schools: Transport

Ian Mearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Transport of the transport needs of those over 16 years old after the increases in the school leaving age in (a) 2013 and (b) 2015; and if he will make a statement.

David Laws: The responsibility for post-16 transport support lies with local authorities. The authorities have a legal duty to set out in a transport statement the arrangements they consider necessary to enable young people to attend post-16 education. The Government recognises that some students find it difficult to pay for education-related costs, and this is one of the reasons why it introduced the 16-19 Bursary Fund. Local authorities and providers are encouraged to work together to ensure that post-16 transport support, and the 16-19 Bursary fund are used effectively together to help meet transport costs. The Department for Education has commissioned an independent three-year evaluation of the 16-19 Bursary Fund, which will conclude at the end of 2014.
	Raising the participation age does not mean young people have to remain in school. They will have a range of options for fulfilling their duty to participate including through an Apprenticeship, full time education or work with part-time training alongside. The Secretary of State for Education, the right hon. Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), has not discussed this directly with the Secretary of State for Transport, the right hon. Member for Derbyshire Dales (Mr McLoughlin), but discussions have taken place between other members of the ministerial team and between officials in both Departments.

Secondment

Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  who pays the salaries of any civil servants seconded to (a) businesses and (b) other organisations which sponsor academies;
	(2)  how many civil servants have been seconded from his Department to (a) businesses and (b) other organisations which sponsor academies.

Elizabeth Truss: The Department has four members of staff on secondment to organisations which sponsor academies. In each case their salaries are reimbursed to the Department.

Training

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how much his Department spent on training and education for civil servants in (a) 2010-11 and (b) 2011-12; and if he will make a statement.

Elizabeth Truss: The Department spent the following amounts on learning and development for staff:
	
		
			  £ 
			 2010-11 3,412,000 
			 2011-12 2,088,000

Vocational Education: Qualifications

Tristram Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  how many and what proportion of key stage four examination entries (a) in total, (b) in each non-academy school, (c) in each converter academy, (d) in each sponsor-led academy and (e) for all academies, were for vocational qualifications judged to be equivalent to A* to C GCSEs in 2011-12; and how many and what proportion in each such category were eligible for free school meals;
	(2)  how many and what proportion of Key Stage Four Examination entries for vocational qualifications judged to be equivalent to A* to C GCSEs were entered from (a) a non-academy school, (b) a converter academy, (c) a sponsor-led academy or (d) any academy; and how many and what proportion in each such category were eligible for free school meals;
	(3)  how many Key Stage 4 examination entries for vocational qualifications were judged to be equivalent to A* to C GCSE (a) in total, (b) in each non-academy school, (c) in each converter academy, (d) in each sponsor-led academy and (e) for all academies in (i) 2010-11 and (ii) 2011-12;
	(4)  how many 2010-11 Key Stage 4 examination entries for vocational qualifications were judged to be equivalent to A* to C GCSE (a) in total, (b) in each non-academy school, (c) in each converter academy, (d) in each sponsor-led academy and (e) for all academies in (i) 2010-11 and (ii) 2011-12;
	(5)  how many Key Stage 4 examination entries for vocational qualifications were judged to be equivalent to A* to C GCSEs in each subject in 2011-12; and how many and what proportion taking each subject were eligible for free school meals.

Elizabeth Truss: The information requested has been placed in the House Libraries.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Disability: Access

Bob Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make it his policy to require organisers of public events to consider the need of disabled people in wheelchairs to be located with people other than their designated carer.

Esther McVey: Provisions in the Equality Act 2010, which prohibit disability discrimination, require providers of services to the public to make a reasonable adjustment where, otherwise, a disabled person would be placed at a substantial disadvantage compared to non-disabled people.
	The need to be located with people other than a designated carer is a factor that should be considered as part of this process.

Employment and Support Allowance

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many employment and support allowance claimants in (a) the support group, (b) the work-related activity group and (c) overall will be affected by the social sector under-occupancy penalty.

Steve Webb: The information requested is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Housing Benefit

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate his Department has made of the increase in demand for discretionary housing payments following reforms to housing benefit in April 2013.

Steve Webb: The information is not available.
	Individuals may respond in a number of ways to the planned reforms. Making an application for discretionary housing payments is just one of the options potentially available to those affected by the changes.

Housing Benefit: Armed Forces

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of exempting families with children in the Armed Forces from the changes to housing benefit as a result of under-occupancy.

Steve Webb: The information requested is not available.
	The Department is unable to make an estimate from survey data as the sample size for non-dependant armed services personnel residing with working age housing benefit claimants in the social sector is small. As a result estimates would be subject to a high degree of sampling error. Data on the employer of non-dependants of housing benefit households is not necessary for the administration of the benefit so is not recorded on administrative data.

Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of foster carers affected by the social sector under-occupancy penalty.

Steve Webb: We estimate that there are fewer than 5,000 claimants who are foster carers who could potentially be affected by the under occupancy measure.
	An additional £5 million has been added to discretionary housing payments specifically to support foster carers affected by this measure.
	Source:
	Indicative information from a variety of sources including a survey conducted by the Fostering Network in 2010, Department for Education and devolved Administrations, Family Resources Survey.

Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of exempting parents who share custody of their children and who require a room for when their children come to stay from the changes to housing benefit as a result of under-occupancy.

Steve Webb: The information requested is not available.
	Parents who share custody of their children are not exempt from the under-occupancy measure. We have however trebled funding for discretionary housing payments to £155 million for 2013-14. Local authorities are best placed to decide which needs this funding will support in their area.

Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate his Department has made of the number of claimants who would be able to downsize to smaller accommodation following the introduction of changes to housing benefit as a result of under-occupancy.

Steve Webb: The information requested is not available.
	This measure is not about forcing people living in social housing to move. We expect many households will prefer to remain where they are and find a way of making up the shortfall, in the same way that those living in the private rented sector in properties that are too large do.

Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of exempting couples who need to sleep separately for medical reasons from the changes to housing benefit as a result of under-occupancy.

Steve Webb: The information requested is not available.
	Depending upon individual circumstances the discretionary housing payment scheme may be available to help people affected by this measure.

Social Rented Housing

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many social sector properties of an appropriate size are available for under occupying tenants to move to (a) nationally and (b) in each local authority area.

Steve Webb: The information requested is not available.
	This measure is not about forcing people living in social housing to move. We expect many households will prefer to remain where they are and find a way of making up the shortfall, in the same way that those living in the private rented sector in properties that are too large do.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Cycling

Ben Bradshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 
	(1)  who his Department's cycling champion is;
	(2)  what progress his Department has made on implementing the Cycle to Work guarantee;
	(3)  whether his Department has signed up to the Government's Cycle to Work scheme.

Alistair Burt: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) introduced the Cycle to Work scheme in March 2010. Since then over 150 FCO employees have participated.
	We are committed to providing facilities and incentives to help encourage as many staff as possible to cycle to work. We provide access to secure and safe bike parking, changing and locker facilities, a 'Cycle to Work scheme' to offset the cost of cycling equipment, as well as organised events for cyclists on bicycle maintenance, safety and security. We have also provided extra cycle parking in London.
	The FCO does not have an individual cycling champion. The Facilities Management team promotes sustainable travel and liaises on cycling issues with an active Bike User Group.

Democratic Republic of Congo

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he plans to take if Rwanda does not honour the terms of the Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework for the Democratic Republic of Congo and the region signed in Addis Ababa on 24 February 2013.

Mark Simmonds: On 24 February I welcomed the new peace agreement to help end the cycle of violence in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and bring an enduring solution to the crisis there. I am pleased that this includes a strategic review of the UN Peacekeeping Mission, MONUSCO, and the commitment to security sector reform. Britain will work with countries in the region, and other interested parties, particularly the countries and multilateral organisations who were co-signatories to the agreement, to try to ensure full implementation in good faith by all signatories to the framework.

Democratic Republic of Congo

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to assist the United Nations in the enforcement of the Peace, Security and Co-operation Framework for the Democratic Republic of Congo and the region.

Mark Simmonds: I welcome the signature of the Peace, Security and Co-operation Framework on Sunday 24 February. It offers real hope to the people of the region for a secure, stable and economically sound future. Britain is committed to playing a positive role in the implementation process. We will work closely with the UN Special Envoy, once appointed, and through the Security Council, as well as with other countries involved, to ensure that all parties deliver on their commitments in pursuit of a sustainable peace and a more prosperous future.

EU Staff: Pay

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what comparative assessment he has made of the level of pay and benefits to senior civil servants in the UK and those in the European Commission; and if he will make representations to the EU Council and EU Commission on pay restraint for EU civil servants.

David Lidington: The Government are committed to a significant reduction in EU administrative costs, and this includes the level of pay and benefits for senior EU civil servants. In spite of a successful conclusion to the February Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) negotiations that saw a real cut in the EU's overall budget, administrative spending remains unacceptably high.
	At a time when member states, the UK included, are making extremely difficult decisions on spending, it cannot be acceptable for EU civil servants to continue to earn significantly more than their British equivalents whilst enjoying generous benefits and paying low levels of tax. Hundreds of EU officials are paid a higher salary than the Prime Minister, and have continued to enjoy annual pay rises, whilst many civil servants in member states have had their pay frozen. Although the Government welcomes the agreement in the MFF for a two year salary and pension freeze for Institution staff, we are on course to have reduced administrative spending by 34% in the UK by 2014-15: there is ample scope for the EU Institutions to be just as ambitious.
	The MFF conclusions highlight the need for “particular effort by every public administration and its staff to improve efficiency, effectiveness and adjust to the changing economic context”. The EU Institutions cannot ignore economic reality, and the Government will continue to press for reform at all levels.

Israel

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps his Department is taking to deter the use of administrative detention in Israel.

Alistair Burt: We have discussed our concerns about Israel's extensive use of administrative detention with the Israeli authorities on many occasions, including at Foreign Minister and National Security Adviser levels. The Attorney-General raised this during his visit to Israel last November, when he was assured by his Israeli counterpart that the numbers in administrative detention had decreased by 90% in the last five years and that administrative detention was only being used in exceptional cases. We will continue to monitor these issues.

Israel

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he is discussing with the Israeli Government ending its practice of administrative detention.

Alistair Burt: We have discussed our concerns about Israel's extensive use of administrative detention with the Israeli authorities on many occasions, including at Foreign Minister and National Security Adviser levels. The Attorney-General, my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Beaconsfield (Mr Grieve), raised this during his visit to Israel last November with his Israeli counterpart.

Israel

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps the Government is taking to monitor and alleviate the conditions of the four Palestinian hunger strikers held in Israeli jails and to ensure that Israel fully respects international human rights obligations towards all Palestinian detainees and prisoners.

Alistair Burt: Officials at the British consulate general in Jerusalem are monitoring the cases of the Palestinian hunger strikers. They are in regular contact with the Prisoners Affairs Ministry in the Palestinian Authority. We have lobbied the Israeli authorities that those on hunger strike receive appropriate medical care and have encouraged all sides to reach a solution that prevents loss of life.
	We believe that Israel has legal obligations as an occupying power with respect to the Occupied Palestinian Territories under applicable international law, including the Fourth Geneva convention. We have a regular dialogue with the Government of Israel with regard to the implementation of those obligations.

Israel

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will issue a condemnation of Israel's use of administrative detention to hold people without trial; and what steps his Department is taking to encourage Israel to stop its use.

Alistair Burt: We are concerned about Israel's extensive use of administrative detention which, according to international law, should be used only when security makes this absolutely necessary rather than as routine practice, and as a preventive rather than a punitive measure. We have discussed our concerns with the Israeli authorities on many occasions, including at Foreign Minister and National Security Adviser levels. The Attorney-General, my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Beaconsfield (Mr Grieve), raised this during his visit to Israel last November, when he was assured by his Israeli counterpart that the numbers in administrative detention had decreased by 90% in the last five years and that administrative detention was only being used in exceptional cases. We will continue to monitor these issues.

Mali

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the level of finance and resource provided to militants in Mali by (a) Al Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb and (b) the West African Movement for Oneness and Jihad; and what steps he is taking to interrupt those sources of funding.

Mark Simmonds: Finance and resource provided to terrorist groups in Mali comes from a number of sources, including through kidnapping for ransom and other criminal activity.
	Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQ-M)’s primary source of finance is through kidnapping for ransom. Both AQ-M and other terrorist groups in the region have kidnapped westerners for financial gain. AQ-M alone has probably received over €40 million in ransom payments. The Foreign and Commonwealth Travel Advice notes that there is a high risk of kidnap in certain areas of Mali and the Sahel and urges British nationals not to travel to these areas. We continue to support regional and international efforts to curb the activities of terrorist groups in the region and stand firm in our policy not to make substantive concessions to kidnappers, including payment of ransoms.
	As the Prime Minister has said, we must defeat terrorism militarily, we must address the narrative that terrorists feed on, we must close down the ungoverned spaces in which they thrive and we must deal with the grievances they use to garner support. Britain will use its chairmanship of the G8 to ensure that these issues remain at the very top of the international agenda.

Mali

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the potential to reduce the influence of Salafist terrorist groups in Mali by increasing political autonomy for Touareg tribes; and whether he has held discussions with (a) the Malian Government and (b) others on pursuing such a strategy.

Mark Simmonds: In the short-term, current international military action in Mali has been the most effective way to reduce the influence of Salafist terrorist groups in Mali. As a result of this action, jihadist groups have been forced to abandon their control of the major cities of northern Mali and the territorial integrity of the country has been largely restored.
	In the longer term, it is essential that military action is accompanied by a sustainable political settlement. As called for by UN Security Council resolution 2085, there is a need for full restoration of constitutional order and national unity in Mali, through broad-based and inclusive dialogue, and the holding of peaceful, credible and inclusive elections. We support a credible framework for negotiations with all northern parties, including those who renounce ties to terrorist organisations and agree to respect Mali's territorial integrity. It will be for the Malian Government, in discussion with all relevant parties, including the international community, to decide on the ultimate solution, including how minority groups, including Tuareg tribes, might play a more active role in national political life.
	We continue to encourage the Malian Government at all levels to begin the process of national reconciliation, including through initiating negotiations with non-extremist groups in the north.

Mali

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the causes of the growth of radical Islamic ideology in Northern Mali since 1995; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Simmonds: Britain has been clear for many years that we need not just to address the symptoms of terrorism but also to address the ideology that feeds it. We, and our international partners, have been looking carefully at underlying factors which need to be addressed to prevent radicalisation, such as rule of law, participatory and accountable government institutions, education and lack of development and employment/economic opportunities.
	As the Prime Minister said in his statement to Parliament on 21 January 2013, we and our partners are clear on the need to counter the extremists' narrative, and address the underlying conflicts and grievances the terrorists choose to exploit.

Palestinians

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Palestinian Authority on reports of Palestinian Authority-sanctioned incitement against Israel and the West.

Alistair Burt: We raise instances of incitement with both the Palestinian Authority and Israel whenever we are aware of serious concerns. The British Government opposes the advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence in all circumstances.

Palestinians

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps his Department has taken to help ensure access to justice for Palestinians detained by the Israeli authorities.

Alistair Burt: We are providing practical assistance, such as helping ensure that detainees are represented by Palestinian lawyers trained in Israeli military law.

South Africa

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations he has made to the South African Government on the crash of Cessna ZS-KOX on 9 September 2004.

Mark Simmonds: The past eight years have been a very difficult and distressing time for the families of those affected by the crash, due to long delays in the South African National Prosecution Authority (NPA) making a decision on whether to prosecute anyone in relation to the crash. We cannot interfere in South Africa's judicial processes, but we worked closely with the Australian Government at ministerial and official level to encourage the South African authorities to make a decision. In September 2012, the NPA made its decision that there was insufficient evidence to prosecute. However, we continue to work closely with the Australian, Canadian and South African governments to seek assurances that those responsible for the crash will not be allowed to continue to operate and that measures are in place to prevent a similar crash. Most recently on 8 February, the British, Australian and Canadian Heads of Mission wrote to the South African Civil Aviation Authority seeking these assurances.

Treaties

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of whether the UK has discharged its outstanding legal obligations in terms of Agreement between the British Government and the British North Borneo Company, for the establishment of a British Protectorate; and on what date prior to 31 December 2012 his Department last undertook (a) bilateral and (b) multilateral talks with the signatory parties in respect of those obligations;
	(2)  when his Department last recorded concern relating to breaches of treaty obligations by the signatory parties in respect of the Agreement between the British Government and the British North Borneo Company, for the establishment of a British protectorate; and if he will place a copy of the relevant documentation in the Library;
	(3)  what assessment he has made of whether the UK has discharged its outstanding legal obligations in terms of the Treaty between Great Britain, Austria and France, guaranteeing the Independence and Integrity of the Ottoman Empire; and on what date prior to 31 December 2012 his Department last undertook (a) bilateral and (b) multilateral talks with the signatory parties in respect of those obligations;
	(4)  when his Department last recorded concern relating to breaches of treaty obligations by the signatory parties in respect of the Treaty between Great Britain, Austria and France, guaranteeing the Independence and Integrity of the Ottoman Empire; and if he will place a copy of the relevant documentation in the Library;
	(5)  what assessment he has made of whether the UK has discharged its outstanding legal obligations in terms of the Convention between Great Britain and Honduras, relative to British rights and Claims, and to the Mosquito Indians; and on what date prior to 31 December 2012 his Department last undertook (a) bilateral and (b) multilateral talks with the signatory parties in respect of those obligations;
	(6)  when his Department last recorded concern relating to breaches of treaty obligations by the signatory parties in respect of the Convention between Great Britain and Honduras, relative to British rights and Claims and to the Mosquito Indians; and if he will place a copy of the relevant documentation in the Library;
	(7)  what assessment he has made of whether the UK has discharged its outstanding legal obligations in terms of the Treaty of Friendship and Commerce between the South African Republic (now the Transvaal State) and the King of Portugal with Protocol relative to the construction of the Lorenzo Marques Railway; and on what date prior to 31 December 2012 his Department last undertook (a) bilateral and (b) multilateral talks with the signatory parties in respect of those obligations;
	(8)  when his Department last recorded concern relating to breaches of treaty obligations by the signatory parties in respect of the Treaty of Friendship and commerce between the South African Republic (now the Transvaal State) and the King of Portugal with Protocol relative to the construction of the Lorenzo Marques Railway; and if he will place a copy of the relevant documentation in the Library;
	(9)  what assessment he has made of whether the UK has discharged its outstanding legal obligations in terms of the Convention between Her Majesty's Royal Commissioners and the Representatives of the Transvaal Burghers, for the Settlement of the Transvaal Territory; and on what date prior to 31 December 2012 his Department last undertook (a) bilateral and (b) multilateral talks with the signatory parties in respect of those obligations;
	(10)  when his Department last recorded concern relating to breaches of treaty obligations by the signatory parties in respect of the Convention between Her Majesty's Royal Commissioners and the Representatives of the Transvaal Burghers, for the Settlement of the Transvaal Territory; and if he will place a copy of the relevant documentation in the Library;
	(11)  what assessment he has made of whether the UK has discharged its outstanding legal obligations in terms of the Agreement between Great Britain and His Majesty King Leopold II, Sovereign of the Independent State of the Congo, relating to the Spheres of Influence of Great Britain and the Independent State of the Congo in East and Central Africa; and on what date prior to 31 December 2012 his Department last undertook (a) bilateral and (b) multilateral talks with the signatory parties in respect of those obligations;
	(12)  when his Department last recorded concern relating to breaches of treaty obligations by the signatory parties in respect of the Agreement between Great Britain and His Majesty King Leopold II, Sovereign of the Independent State of the Congo, relating to the Spheres of Influence of Great Britain and the Independent State of the Congo in East and Central Africa; and if he will place a copy of the relevant documentation in the Library;
	(13)  what assessment he has made of whether the UK has discharged its outstanding legal obligations in terms of the Declaration between Great Britain and Germany, for extending to the whole German Empire the Stipulations contained in Article VI of the Commercial Treaty between Great Britain and the Zollverein of May 8, 1865, for the protection of Trade Marks; and on what date prior to 31 December 2012 his Department last undertook (a) bilateral and (b) multilateral talks with the signatory parties in respect of those obligations;
	(14)  when his Department last recorded concern relating to breaches of treaty obligations by the signatory parties in respect of the Declaration between Great Britain and Germany, for extending to the whole German Empire the Stipulations contained in Article VI of the Commercial Treaty between Great Britain and the Zollverein of May 8, 1865, for the Protection of Trade Marks; and if he will place a copy of the relevant documentation in the Library;
	(15)  what assessment he has made of whether the UK has discharged its outstanding legal obligations in terms of the Declaration between Great Britain and Prussia, relative to Commerce and Navigation between the Ionian Islands and the States of the Zollverein; and on what date prior to 31 December 2012 his Department last undertook (a) bilateral and (b) multilateral talks with the signatory parties in respect of those obligations;
	(16)  when his Department last recorded concern relating to breaches of treaty obligations by the signatory parties in respect of the Declaration between Great Britain and Prussia, relative to Commerce and Navigation between the Ionian Islands and the States of the Zollverein; and if he will place a copy of the relevant documentation in the Library;
	(17)  what assessment he has made of whether the UK has discharged its outstanding legal obligations in terms of the Convention between Great Britain and Germany establishing a Customs Union between the Gold Coast Colony, East of the Volta, and Togoland; and on what date prior to 31 December 2012 his Department last undertook (a) bilateral and (b) multilateral talks with the signatory parties in respect of those obligations;
	(18)  when his Department last recorded concern relating to breaches of treaty obligations by the signatory parties in respect of the Convention between Great Britain and Germany establishing a Customs Union between the Gold Coast Colony, East of the Volta, and Togoland; and if he will place a copy of the relevant documentation in the Library;
	(19)  what assessment he has made of whether the UK has discharged its outstanding legal obligations in terms of the Treaty between Great Britain and Germany, for the Marriage of His Royal Highness the Duke of Connaught with Her Royal Highness the Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia; and on what date prior to 31 December 2012 his Department last undertook (a) bilateral and (b) multilateral talks with the signatory parties in respect of those obligations;
	(20)  when his Department last recorded concern relating to breaches of treaty obligations by the signatory parties in respect of the Treaty between Great Britain and Germany, for the Marriage of His Royal Highness the Duke of Connaught with Her Royal Highness the Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia; and if he will place a copy of the relevant documentation in the Library;
	(21)  what assessment he has made of whether the UK has discharged its outstanding legal obligations in terms of the Protocol between Great Britain, Germany and Spain, respecting the Sovereignty of Spain over the Sulu Archipelago (Renunciation by Spain of Claims to Sovereignty in Borneo; British North Borneo Company; &c.); and on what date prior to 31 December 2012 his Department last undertook (a) bilateral and (b) multilateral talks with the signatory parties in respect of those obligations;
	(22)  when his Department last recorded concern relating to breaches of treaty obligations by the signatory parties in respect of the Protocol between Great Britain, Germany and Spain, respecting the Sovereignty of Spain over the Sulu Archipelago (Renunciation by Spain of Claims to Sovereignty in Borneo; British North Borneo Company; &c.); and if he will place a copy of the relevant documentation in the Library.

David Lidington: I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 26 February 2013, Official Report, column 428W.

Yorkshire and the Humber

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many staff of his Department are employed in (a) Hull and (b) East Yorkshire.

Alistair Burt: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office does not employ any staff in (a) Hull and (b) East Yorkshire.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Ecuador

Iain Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much her Department plans to spend on projects in Ecuador in each of the next three years.

Alan Duncan: DFID has no country programme in Ecuador. There are no plans to spend from the bilateral aid budget on projects there in the next three years.

Palestinians

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what offences have been committed by the Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails receiving payments from the Palestinian Authority.

Alan Duncan: Full details concerning the offences committed by Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails are not available. We understand from the Palestinian Authority that they have had difficulty obtaining this information from the Israeli authorities. However we are aware that the number of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails includes individuals who are under administrative detention and who have therefore been arrested without a trial or charge.

Palestinians

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether the Palestinian Authority offers anti-crime education programmes to the families of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

Alan Duncan: This is a question for the Palestinian Authority (PA). However, we are aware that the PA teaches civic education as part of its curriculum.

Palestinians

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails have received payments from the Palestinian Authority in each of the last five years.

Alan Duncan: At the request of the Israeli authorities, Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails receive a minimal allowance to cover the cost of food and clothes. Further questions in this respect are a matter for the Israeli authorities who administer these payments.

Rwanda

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will maintain the suspension of aid to Rwanda.

Justine Greening: I refer the right hon. Gentleman to my written ministerial statement of 1 March 2013.